


Attack on Prime

by melishade (orphan_account)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Other, Post-Predacons Rising (Prime Movie), Prime - Freeform, Transformers - Freeform, Transformers Prime - Freeform, attack on titan - Freeform, shingeki no kyojin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-06-01 06:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6505549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/melishade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally posted on fanfiction.net. After Optimus became one with Primus, he is somehow sent to the world of the Titans: where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain and are only safe behind walls. Optimus decides to help humanity in the raging war against Titans, as he has said before "Freedom is the right for all sentient beings."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New World

"In order to protect both the Allspark, and secure Unicron's defeat, it was necessary for me to empty the vessel's contents." Optimus explained as he stood before the Autobots with the sun rising behind him.

"Into where?" Bumblebee asked.

Optimus looked down at his chest. "The Matrix of Leadership, as such, my own spark can no longer be separated from the multitude of others within me."

"Are you telling us that you are now…one with the Allspark?" Ratchet asked in shock and disbelief.

"That's what you say when someone kicks the…" Smokescreen tried to joke, but then looked at his leader in disbelief.

"To not return the Allspark to the Well," Optimus continued, "would be to prevent future generations of new life from existing on Cybertron. My quest must be completed."

"Optimus, I didn't return to save a life, only to lose the one I care most about." Ratchet said, his voice sounding broken.

"Ratchet's restored planets; he'll find a way to save you." Bulkhead reassured.

"We can turn to Vector Sigma, just like we did before." Arcee suggested, hoping that would be a solution.

"Because the Matrix must now be relinquished with the Allspark, it cannot be restored, or passed down to another. But while this very well marked the end of the Age of Primes, leadership can be earned, with or without the Matrix. And in my view you have each acted as a Prime." Optimus stated.

"Well I never really had the best role models," Knockout smiled sheepishly.

"As even Megatron has demonstrated on this day," Optimus continued, "every sentient being possesses the capacity for change." Optimus activated the jet wings on his back. "I only ask of this of you fellow Autobots: keep fighting the noblest of fights."

"You can count on us to keep the peace." Bumblebee reassured.

Optimus smiled at his team for the last time. The jet wings on his back created power, and Optimus flew high into the high. The Autobots watched in sadness as Optimus turned around and flew down towards the core of their planet: to Primus himself.

As Optimus saw Primus awaiting him, he opened his chest, revealing the Matrix of Leadership. As he was almost to the core, he began to think to himself. He was happy. He was happy that the fighting was finally over. He can die happy knowing that he brought back and saved the planet that gave him life. He knew his comrades would keep the peace. He had complete faith in them.

He closed his eyes and a small smile formed on his face as he let warm light consume him.  
\--------------------------------------------------------

Optimus groaned as he slowly opened his optics. His vision was blurry, but when it cleared up, he was looking up at the clear blue sky with a couple of small clouds.

Optimus widened his eyes in shock. Cybertron didn't have any clouds last time he checked. Matter-of-fact, what was he even doing? Alive?! He was supposed to be dead, or with Primus in the core, with his body gone.

Optimus tried to get up, but his helm felt like it was spinning. He slowly got up, to prevent any way of making the headache worse. He rubbed his helm as he groaned in slight pain, but he suddenly noticed something off.

He looked at his hand and arm and widened his optics. It wasn't his form that he was in when he was back on Cybertron. His arm actually looked like his old form. He looked over at the rest of his body. He didn't look robust at all. He looked slim and he didn't feel any weight on his back. Was he…

Optimus heard a swishing like sound, and looked over to see a river in front of him. He walked over to it and kneeled down to see his reflection. He really was in his old form. But why?

But he suddenly realized something; there were no rivers on Cybertron. He looked around area to see lush green grass surrounding him. There were small flowers and hills near him and the river. There were patches of trees in different areas farther away from him. He could see mountain over at the edges of the area littered with trees.

Why was he on earth? Earth was millions of miles away from Cybertron. Why was he even here? He stood up and walked over the river, deciding to investigate the area for himself, and find out where he was.

Optimus continued walking around for about half an hour, in human time. The only thing he saw was green grass and dark green pointed trees. He hasn't seen any human activity ever since he arrived here. Was this even earth? Usually you at the least see one human driving around in an automobile.

Something wasn't right. Optimus could feel it. Something was horribly off about this place.

Optimus then noticed something off into the distance. It looked like it was…a building.

'Humans must be in that area.' Optimus assumed.

Knowing that humans would be scared of seeing a walking metal titan, Optimus decided to try something else. He transformed into his old alt mode: a red and cobalt semi-truck. He drove towards the buildings. He expected there to be human activity, but found out that the place was abandoned.

He transformed into his bipedal mode and looked through the windows. There was no one inside. He could see spider webs forming through old shelves and broken cabinet. He was slightly shocked to see a wild animal inside, whimpering under the shelf.

Optimus got up and looked at the rest of the buildings. Some of them were still standing. Others were destroyed by some unknown for. He made the assumption that it was some kind of military weapon. But then he also noticed something else about the house: they looked outdated.

The houses he's seen the first time he came to earth looked modernized, new. These houses just looked outdated and old-fashioned.

Optimus grimaced. Something was definitely wrong. Was he in the past? Did humans exist in this area?

He suddenly heard a growling noise that sounded…almost human. Optimus looked over the houses to see…

"A human?" Optimus questioned.

At least it looked like it, but it was his height. The so called human wasn't wearing any clothes. It did have any reproductive organs either. It was just walking around the area with almost nothing to do. Optimus noticed that the 'human' had a disturbing smile on its face. Optimus immediately came to the conclusion: that wasn't human.

Optimus crouched so that the thing wouldn't see him. He transformed his hand into his old gun and aimed it at the thing's head. He put his other hand on his arm so the gun would be in a steadier position. He then charged his gun and fired.

The force actually destroyed part of the house he was behind as it traveled and blasted of the thing's head. The creature was now headless as steam rose from its neck. It fell to the floor and began to disintegrate.

Optimus walked over to the now dead creature and observed it closely. He could tell that the energon was eating away at the flesh. Energon was never compatibly with anything carbon based as he learned in the past. But steam rose from the thing, and the only thing left of it was bones. It was gone in a matter of seconds.

He suddenly heard a growling like noise and looked down to see a smaller version of the creature, crouching down like an animal. It roared as it jumped to attack him. Optimus transformed the hand that was a gun into a blade, and stabbed the creature in the chest.

The creature tried to move once more, but it fell limp on his blade. Optimus thought it was over, but the creature began to move again. It tried to grabbed Optimus with its small hands, but Optimus transformed his other hand into a gun and shot of the head. The creature slowly slid off the sword and disintegrated like the other one.

"What is this?" Optimus asked himself. He looked at the blood that was on his blade and noticed that it felt hot. The blood then slowly evaporated, and his blade was once again clean.

This can't be earth! This couldn't be. This was….

Optimus suddenly heard thunder as he saw golden lighting coming down from the sky from a far away distance. He immediately decided on what to do. Optimus transformed into his alt mode and drove off towards the source.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Eren Yeager suddenly heard a thunderous sound from behind him. He turned around as was now face to face with the Colossal Titan.

Everyone else that was there was in shock. They had probably never seen a real titan up close, but Eren knew what it was. But why was the titan back?

Eren gasped as a hot steam knocked everyone off of the top of Wall Rose. The Colossal Titan kicked a hole through the gate.

"The hell?" Eren gasped as he was spinning in midair. He regained his focus and activated his 3D Maneuver Gear and hooked himself to the wall. Everyone else followed the same suite, however Samuel got knocked unconscious by some falling rocks.

"Samuel!" Connie cried.

Sasha unhooked herself and chased after Samuel.

"Sasha!" Mina called out.

Sasha didn't listen as she continued running. She used one hook from her gear to pierce Samuel by the leg while she used her other hook to hook onto the wall.

"Samuel, don't move!" Sasha instructed, but Samuel was still unconscious.

"That was close," Eren breathed. His relief was short lived as he looked down to see a large hole in the gate. Connie and Thomas looked in shock and horror as well.

'The gate's…broken…again,' Eren thought, 'The Titans will get in again!'

The same thing was going to happen again. People were going to die as Titans would continue to take over Wall Rose. Humanity was going to suffer once again. He remembered his mother being picked up by a Titan and eaten in half right before his eyes.

"I'll kill them all! Every single one of them!" Eren swore.

"Every…fucking…one," he muttered to himself.

"Ready the artillery! Four groups!" Eren instructed as he pulled out his blades, "Get ready for battle!"

He unhooked himself from where he was and swung around the wall to the top, using the gas to propel him. "The target's right in front of us! It's the Colossal Titan! This is our chance! Don't let it slip away!"

Eren launched himself in the air and landed on the top of the wall, using his gas tanks to slow his fall. He raised his head at glared directly at the Colossal Titan.

"Hello there," Eren greeted dangerously, "It's been five years."

Eren charged at the Titan standing before him as he raised his hand. Eren noticed the Titan's movements and realized that the Titan was aiming for him. Eren propelled himself into the air as the Titan was destroying the cannons at the top of the wall.

Eren hooked onto the muscle of the Titan as he swung around to get a better look at what it was aiming for. Eren slightly widened his eyes as he saw their weapons falling to the ground.

'He was after the fixed cannons!' Eren thought, 'So it wasn't just a coincidence that he targeted the gate! He's actually…intelligent!'

The Colossal Titan looked at Eren and tried to grabbed. Eren snapped out of his thought and hooked onto the upper arm. He propelled himself forward as he tried to reach for the nape of the neck.

'Still, this is our chance! This is the only one that can destroy the gates.' Eren thought. It was probably a once in a life time chance. He was the reason his mom was gone and his dad disappearing. He was not going to let him get away.

He ran up the arm towards the Titan's neck. 'If I can stop him,'

Eren jumped off of the arm and hooked himself onto the nape of the neck. He practically flew forward as he spun around and saw his target.

"Too slow!" he yelled. "You're mine!" He swung his blades back, ready to cut the neck, but he was pushed back by clouds of hot steam.

"It burns!" he grunted as he shut his eye. He slowly opened his eyes and realized his was still hooked on. He pressed the button at the handle of his blade and he went forward.

"Go!" he cried out as he swung his blades, but when the steam clear up, the Titan was gone.

Eren widened his eyes in shock. 'Did I miss?'

He realized that he was falling and hooked himself onto the top of the wall and landed on the side. He looked down at the ground to see the footprints and the hole in the wall.

'No, the Colossal Titan disappeared,' Eren realized.

"Eren!" Thomas called out from the top of the wall, "Did you defeat it?"

"No," Eren answered, "It was the same as five years ago…He appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as suddenly!"

Eren propelled himself to the top of the wall and walked up to Tomas and Connie.

"I'm sorry," He apologized, "I let him get away."

"Why are you apologizing?" Thomas asked, "The rest of us couldn't even move-"

"Hey, there's no time for discussion! " Connie cut off, "The wall's been breached. If we don't patch it fast, the Titans will get in like before!"

"What are you doing?" a soldier demanded as he appeared onto the wall next to them, "The contingency plan for the Colossal Titan has already begun. Get to HQ! Anyone who made contact with it, don't forget to report."

"Yes sir!" They saluted.

"Best of luck to the advance team!" Connie added.

Eren looked back at the hole in the wall and to the fields of His original home. This couldn't be happening. He suddenly noticed something off into the distance. Something like a mix of two different colors.

"Eren, let's go!" Thomas called out as he jumped down the wall.

"Got it!" Eren said. He looked back one more time before he followed Thomas and Connie.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus screeched to a stopped and transformed into his bipedal mode as he looked at a wall. It was damaged at the top and there was a hole inside. He could hear screams, human screams, from the inside as he saw these creatures walking towards the hole that was currently guarded by a net.

Optimus then came to the conclusion: these creatures were after humans. They killed humans.

Optimus saw cannons lines up against the wall, aiming for the creatures that were walking to the gate. He immediately took cover as the cannons were fired, blowing off the creatures' heads and vital organs. He thought they had killed them, but he widened his optics as he saw the creatures standing back up. Their heads and body parts were slowly regenerating and they continued towards their goal.

'They regenerate!' Optimus realized, remembering the small creature that was moving on his blade after he stabbed it in the chest. These thing could wipe out everyone. Optimus transformed into his alt mode and drove towards the gate while dodging cannon fire. He wasn't going to let them die!  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Just follow your training! Split into groups!" a commander ordered to the fresh trainees, "Under Garrison's orders, you will resupply combatants, relay orders, and kill Titans! Garrison intercept forces will form the vanguard! Trainees, lead by the supply team, will compromise the middle guard! The Garrison's elite forces will form the rear guard. Also, messengers report that the last team has been neutralized."

Everyone began to mutter in shock as the commander continued speaking. "The outer wall has been breached, and Titans have entered the city! In other words, the Armored Titan may appear at any time to destroy the inner gate!"

"No way," a soldier said.

"You're kidding," Thomas muttered.

"If we lose Rose too…." a soldier trailed off.

"Silence!" the commander yelled, "As we speak, the vanguard is engaging them. We have but one objective in this fight: defend Wall Rose with our live until the evacuation is complete! Also, you are all surely aware, desertion in the face of the enemy is punishable by death. Mark this well, and fight until your last breath! Dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers saluted.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus continued to walk down the empty city, trying to find any human life that was in the area. He knew the place would probably be evacuated, but some human don't usually get enough time.

He looked through the windows of the houses, only to find them empty. He made the assumption that majority of the humans have escaped.

He suddenly heard a whirring like sound and looked over a couple of buildings to see humans that looked like they were flying through the area. They were flying towards those creatures. Then he suddenly saw those creatures attacking them.

Optimus widened his eyes in shock as he quickly transformed and drove towards them.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Armin screamed as he was slipping down into the Titan's mouth. He wasn't able to move before because he was in total shock, seeing everyone get eaten and Eren on the roof unconscious. But either way, his life was over.

He suddenly stopped falling as he saw Eren grabbing him by the wrist while using his other arm to hold himself so they both wouldn't slipped. Eren then used his strength to pull Armin out of the mouth and throw him onto the roof of the building the Titan was in front of.

Armin immediately sat up called out for Eren as he was forcing the Titan's mouth to stay open.

"You think I'm goning to die here?!" Eren demanded, "Hey, Armin…you once told me about it…"

Eren used one of his hand and tried to reach for Armin who was still standing there in shock.

"So I'm going…to the outside world!" Eren swore.

Armin widened his eyes. He had to get Eren out right now! He got over his shock telling Eren to hurry while trying to reach for him, but it was too late. The Titan shut its mouth, biting off Eren's lower arm as it went flying.

Armin looked in horror. His friend had no way of escaping. He was being eaten right before his eyes, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it! The Titan swallowed Eren whole as he letting out a bloody scream with tears pouring down his face.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus skidded to a stop as he drove towards a loud scream. He saw a bearded creature swallow something, and a boy with blond hair screaming and crying. The creature then moved his hand towards the boy, trying to grab him, Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode and punched the creature to the ground. He then grabbed the boy who was still screaming his head off and transformed into his alt mode with the boy sitting in the front.

He drove forward, leaving the creature that was slowly getting back up. Optimus used his side-view mirrors to see if he could find an area to hide in. He saw an alleyway and drove inside, slowing to a stop as he was pretty deep through.

But he could still hear the boy screaming. He wasn't acknowledging anything at all. He didn't even notice where he was. He just screaming with a horrified look on his face.

"Boy, listen to me." Optimus spoke through the radio, "Calm down."

The boy's screaming slowed to a stop as he looked at the radio that came to life. He gasped and was beginning to flip out, trying to get as far away from the radio as possible. The boy then noticed that he was boxed in and that he couldn't get out.

"What are you?" the boy asked in fear, "Don't hurt me."

"I will not harm you." Optimus reassured.

That only made matters worse. He could feel the boy's heartbeat increasing as he eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

"You speak?!" he yelled, "Let me go! Let me go! I don't want to be eaten!"

Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode and held the boy in his hands. The boy looked around him and back at Optimus, petrified to see him.

"Don't hurt me." the boy pleaded.

Optimus slowly put the boy on the roof and looked down at him. "I will not harm you. You have my word, but why do you think I would consume you?"

The boy widened his eyes as if he was remembering something. He suddenly began screaming once again while clutching his head, shocking Optimus.

"I was weak!" the boy cried, "I wasn't strong enough to save anyone! My comrades were killed! Thomas, Mina, Eren! I wasn't strong! My squad member were eaten by the Titans! Eren was eaten right in front of me and I couldn't do anything at all! I'M WEAK!"

The boy continued to scream as Optimus looked at him in shock. These creatures, these Titans, eat human. They ate…

Optimus regained his composure and softly tapped the boy with his finger to snapped him out of his trance. The boy looked up into surprise as Optimus came face to face with him.

"Listen to me," Optimus began, "and answer this question: What is your mission?"

The boy looked at him in surprise. Why was he asking him this?

"My mission is to…make sure the people get evacuated from the city." the boy explained, "And find a way to kill all the Titans and protect the gate before the Armored Titan shows up."

"But cannot just sit here and do nothing," Optimus explained, "If you do, more people will die, and this mission will be a failure. I know it hurts to lose your comrades, but this is war. You cannot let your friend's sacrifice to save you go in vain. You must complete your mission and save these people."

The boy just stared at Optimus as he stood at full height.

'This Titan,' he thought, 'What is he? He willingly saved my life. What….?'

The boy looked behind Optimus and widened his eyes to see two Titans coming towards them.

"TITANS!" the boy yelled.

Optimus turned around to see the creatures known as Titans and slightly growled. He activated his mouth guard and transformed both of his hands into blades. He let out a battle cry as he charged at both of them.

Armin widened his eyes in shock as he saw the metal titan charge at the two other Titans. He didn't understand. Who was this Titan? He saved his life, is intelligent, equipped with weapons, and was protecting him once again.

He saw the metal titan stab one of the titans and kick it to the ground while he sliced off the head of the other. The headless titan fell to the ground as steam rose from both of them.

'He know how to fight.' Armin thought, 'He can…'

Armin noticed the titan that was stabbed was slowly getting back up. The headless titan was slowly regenerating his head.

Armin began to panic. This metal titan could help humanity, but it could also turn on them. Was he going to tell him the key to defeating the Titans? Armin decided to risk it.

"Hey!" Armin yelled, gaining the metal titan's attention, "Cut the nape of the neck! The only way to kill a Titan is to cut the nape of the neck!"

The metal titan nodded his head as he grabbed the arms of one of the titans and flipped it onto its back. The metal titan pierced the nape of the neck and the titan stopped moving. The headless titan was almost done regenerating its head, but the metal titan spun behind him and sliced the back of the neck.

The titan fell to the floor and began to disintegrate. The metal titan looked over at Armin and widened his eyes. Much to Armin's surprise, he transformed his blade into a gun and aimed it at him.

Armin gasped in shock as the metal titan fired. He covered his eyes and waited to be killed, but the blast didn't hit him. Armin looked behind him to see a titan falling to the ground without a head.

Armin expected the titan to regenerate, it quickly disintegrated, leaving nothing but bones.

"I did not mean to startle you." the metal titan apologized as he walked up to Armin, his weapons shifting back into his hands, "I probably wouldn't have got you in time if I ran. The Titan almost grabbed you."

Armin got over his shock and regained his composure. "So are you going to help humanity?"

The metal titan nodded his head. "I will not allow any more humans to die."

Armin felt like he was going to smile. This Titan was willingly going to help them out.

"Do you know where any of your other comrades are?" the metal titan asked.

"I don't know." Armin answered, "I need to find them. I need to find Mikasa."

"I will help you get to your comrades." the metal titan swore.

Armin nodded his head in understanding. He hooked onto one of the buildings and propelled himself forward with his 3D gear. He looked behind him to see the metal titan running behind him. Armin thought for a little bit. If this titan possesses intelligence, he probably must have called himself something.

"What is your name?" the metal titan asked.

Armin hooked to another building and slowed down a little bit until he was next to the metal titan's face.

"It's Armin. Armin Arlert." he answered, "Do you have a name? I don't really want to call you metal titan if you possess intelligence."

The metal titan was silent for a brief moment. "My name is Optimus Prime."


	2. Hearing the HeartBeat

Members of the trainee corps sat on the roofs of the buildings. They were either praying to a God they didn't know or horrified by the fact that they were probably going to die here. However a few others were trying to do something about the situation.

"Hey, Jean!" Connie called out as he walked over to Jean, "What should we do?"

Jean just sat there looking down on the roof. "There's nothing more we can do." He looked up at Connie and put one hand on his head. "They finally issued the order to retreat, but without more gas we can't climb the walls. So we're all going to die, because of those cowards."

"The supply team, what happened to them?" Connie demanded. "Were they wiped out?"

"They're too terrified to move." Jean answered without much care, "I can see why, but abandoning their mission to resupply us, to hide in HQ? That's unbelievable. And sure enough, the Titans have swarmed them, so we can't go get more gas."

"Then we must take a chance!" Connie yelled, "And try to destroy the Titans swarming HQ! We won't be any worse off than just sitting here. The Titans will be here before long! And if we keep running, we'll just waste the gas we have. Without the use of Maneuver Gear, we really are done for!"

"I'm surprised you're using your head for once, Connie." Jean remarked, "But do you really think we can do that, given our numbers here? Most of the veterans in the vanguard were killed. Which of us trainees could lead a suicidal mission like that?"

Jean looked around to see his fellow comrades depressed. Some of them crying to themselves. "Well, even if someone could, we can't fight the Titans. I bet the gas supply room is chock with 3 to 4 meter class Titans. Obviously we can't refuel with them around."

Connie widened his eyes before he gave of a sad expression as well. "So were doomed?"

Jean sighed in irritation, "What a stupid life, If I'd known this would've happened I would've told them."

"Come on guys!" Sasha tried to encourage her comrades, "Let's do it! If we work together we'll be fine. I'll take the lead."

No one said anything. How could they go and continue to fight the titans after watching their comrades die? The way they ate humans, those terrifying smiles, they were horrified.

Sasha was about to continue, but heard loud footsteps in the distance. She turned around to see what it was and widened her eyes in horror.

Sasha began to stutter trying to get people to look in her direction. Jean noticed this and sighed. "Sasha, if this some kind of joke-"

"It's the-th-the -t-" Sasha kept stuttering as she pointed in the direction she was looking at.

"Spit it out already!" Connie yelled.

Jean looked in the direction Sasha was pointing and widened his eyes. Armin was coming in their direction with his Maneuver Gear, but behind him was a…

"It's the Armored Titan!" Jean yelled.

All of the trainees began to panic and scream as they saw the Titan running towards them.

Armin looked over to see his comrades freaking out as he practically flew over to them.

"Over there." Armin told Optimus as he made a turn.

Armin landed on the roof while Optimus skidded to a stop behind him.

"Armin get away from that!" Jean yelled as he went to grab his blade.

"Jean, stop!" Armin instructed, "He's not the enemy!"

"How can you be so sure?" Reiner demanded as he stepped forward while everyone was stepped back, "He's a Titan! Titans eat humans and nothing more!"

"If the only way for a titan like myself to survive is to consume humans, I would've consumed Armin long before." Optimus retorted calmly.

Everyone widened their eyes in complete shock and stopped what they were doing. Jean began to tremble as the blades in his hands almost fell out. "He's intelligent?"

Armin nodded his head. "This is Optimus Prime. He is no enemy to mankind. He willingly saved my life twice earlier."

The trainees began to mutter amongst themselves. This Titan saved a human? Reiner looked back at Bertholdt who had a worried look on his face.

Optimus suddenly heard a whirring noise from behind him. He turned around to see a female charging at him with the same equipment Armin had. She let out a battle cry and tried to slice at his shoulders, but her blades shattered on contact.

She rolled onto the roof startling most of the trainees. She suddenly pulled out two more blades and was about to charge at him again, but Armin got into her way.

"Mikasa, stop!" Armin pleaded, "He's not the enemy!"

"It's a Titan!" Mikasa retorted, "He's the enemy!"

"He's not! He saved my life twice!"Armin shot back.

"What do you mean he saved your life?" Mikasa demanded, slightly calming down.

"He saved me from being eaten by Titans." Armin explained, "And you know he's not the Armored Titan. We saw it when it broke the gate in Wall Maria."

Mikasa still wasn't convinced, but she knew Armin was a truthful person. She calmed down completely and put her blades in her holders.

Optimus looked at her with slight curiosity and surprise, but for some reason she reminded him of a certain Autobot on his team.

Mikasa then noticed something was wrong, completely wrong. She looked at all of the other trainees who were still in shock, but she didn't find the person she was looking for.

"Armin, where's Eren?" she asked, "He was on your squad right?"

Armin face was suddenly consumed with horror. He began to remember how Eren was reaching out to him while he was in the Titan's mouth, before Optimus came to save him.

Armin hung his head in shame and sadness.

"Armin, what's wrong?" Mikasa asked.

Optimus noticed Armin distress and knew what it meant. This Eren person was eaten by a Titan. Armin said it earlier when he was screaming.

"Armin, you need to tell her." Optimus said, "You cannot keep her in the dark."

Mikasa looked at Optimus in shock and confusion. What did he mean by that?

Mikasa looked back at Armin, who looked back at her with sadness as tear poured down his face. Mikasa widened her eyes. It couldn't be true.

"The members of Trainee Corps team 34," Armin began, "Thomas Wagner, Nack Tias, Milius Zermusky, Mina Karolina, Eren Jaeger, these five died valiantly in the line of duty!"

Everyone looked in shock. Especially at the fact that Eren Jaeger was dead. He was in the top ten, and he was already killed. If Eren was killed, how the hell could they survive this mess?

"No," Sasha muttered.

"Team 34 was almost wiped out, then?" a soldier questioned.

"If we try to face the Titans, the same thing will happen to us." a soldier said.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa," Armin apologized, even though it didn't change anything, "Eren…he sacrificed himself for me. I…I couldn't do anything! I'm sorry…"

Mikasa put her hand on Armin's shoulder. "Armin, calm down. This isn't the time to get emotional."

Armin looked at her in confusion while Optimus didn't say anything. But Optimus could still see it in her eyes. She was shocked and upset, and she was trying to block out these emotions. She wanted revenge, but didn't know who to take it out on. Optimus mentally sighed. Now she really reminded him of a certain Autobot on his team.

"Marco," Mikasa called out as she walked away from Armin, "if we eliminate the titan swarming HQ, then we can refuel and climb the walls. Isn't that right?"

"That's right, but…" Marco trailed off, "even with you here, there are too many." He wasn't so sure if this 'Optimus Prime' was truly on their side.

"I can do it." Mikasa proclaimed, causing Marco to gasp in shock. She then raised her blade high in the air. "I am strong. Stronger than you guys. Very strong. Therefore, I can defeat those Titans! Even on my own! You are not only weak, but you are spineless cowards. I am disappointed in you. Just stay here,"

"Listen to me," Optimus interrupted, "You cannot face these creatures on your own. You may be skilled, but you will also need help from your comrades."

"They are not willing to fight." Mikasa retorted, "If they are not willing to fight, why should they be called soldiers?"

"Hey, Mikasa!" a female soldier called out, "What are you saying?!"

"You're going to fight the Titans by yourself?!" another soldier asked.

"There's no way you can do it!" a third soldier reasoned.

"If I can't, I'll die," Mikasa said as she turned away from her comrades, "But if I win, I'll live. If I don't fight, I can't win."

And with that, Mikasa hooked onto a building and took off, leaving the rest of the trainees and Optimus.

"Mikasa…" Armin muttered.

"She is consumed by her emotions," Optimus explained, "And is trying to find out what to do," Optimus sworn he heard a loud roaring off into the distance, but forgot about it and focused onto the situation at hand.

"What's just disappointing is her vocabulary," Jean said, "Was that suppose to be an inspirational speech? Damn it! This is your fault, Eren!"

Optimus immediately pinpointed Mikasa location and activated his blades, surprising everyone. "If Mikasa is heading towards HQ by herself, she will surely be eaten. We must follow her."

Optimus then followed Mikasa towards HQ, leaving the other soldiers.

Jean slightly widened his eyes. This titan was serious. He raised his blade high in the air. "He's right! Were we trained to let our fellow soldiers fight alone?! Do you really want to become cowards?!"

Jean then ran off to follow the two, with Connie right behind him.

"I wouldn't want that," Reiner remarked before he, Bertholdt, and Annie decided to follow. Armin wiped his tears and followed them as well. Marco sighed as he put a hand on his forehead before going into battle.

"Come on, cowards, wimps, idiots!" Sasha yelled to her comrades before jumping into battle.

"Damn it. I'll do it!" a soldier declared.

The rest of the trainees let out battle cries before they charged into battle and headed straight for HQ.

Mikasa sped through the battlefield as she killed a Titan with ease. Optimus was a couple of houses over, stabbing the Titans straight in the neck.

"Hurry!" Jean instructed, "Follow Mikasa! We do this fast! We need to storm to HQ before our gas runs out!"

"Mikasa's amazing though," Connie remarked as he looked up at her, "And that Prime guy is great too. But how is Mikasa moving so fast?"

Armin looked with dread. 'No, she's using too much gas. She'll run out fast! No matter how good you are, without the Maneuver Gear, you're helpless.'

Mikasa hooked onto another building and killed another Titan. As it crashed into a building, Mikasa hooked to the next building and swung around the corner.

'I knew she wasn't her usual calm self.' Armin thought, 'Optimus was right. She's trying to ignore her shock by taking action. At this rate, she'll…'

As if on cue, the gas in Mikasa's tank ran out. She slowly flipped in the air as she crashed onto the roof and tumbled to the floor.

"Mikasa!" Armin cried as he went to go and save her.

"Damn it!" Jean cursed as he saw Armin changing course.

"Jean, you take over!" Connie instructed, "I'll go after Armin!"

"I will too!" Jean declared.

"What are you doing?" Connie demanded, "The Titans are still out there! We need your skills!"

And with that, Connie took off to get Armin and Mikasa before they got themselves killed. Jean gritted his teeth as he lead everyone to HQ.

Mikasa lied down on a blanket-like roof as she stared at the cloudy sky. She didn't have a reason to live anymore. Her parents, Carla, Eren, they were all gone, and she was all alone again. She lifted up her blade and looked at her reflection.

'Again,' she thought, 'This again. I lost my family once more.'

She jumped off of the stand and fell to her knees on the ground. She was also frustrated. If this Optimus titan saved Armin, why couldn't he save Eren as well? Eren meant everything to her, and he was now gone.

'Do I have to remember the pain again?' she asked herself. 'And start over again from here?'

She heard loud and slow footsteps from beside her. She didn't look up but she knew it was a titan. She almost gave a sad smile. It looks like this is the end for her.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
Jean looked down to see 3 to 4 meter class Titans around the area they were in. He was beginning to lose hope in the fact that they wouldn't make to HQ, at least not everyone.

'We can't even get close to HQ,' Jean thought to himself as he looked down to see the Titans, 'Not unless we're willing to risk causalities.'

Jean suddenly heard someone scream and looked down to see a soldier trying to use his 3D Gear to get up the house, but it was no use, he was out of gas. And to make matters worse, he was in the middle of a swarm of Titans who didn't notice him yet.

'Damn he out of gas,' Jean cursed to himself.

Jean widened his eyes as a Titan spotted him and ran to grab him. The man yelled stay back, but the Titan didn't care at all. Jean wanted to help the man, he really did, but he didn't want to die either.

"Tom, I'm coming for you!" a soldier proclaimed as he used his gear to get to him. The female soldier from earlier decided to use her gear to so and save her comrades.

"Don't!" Jean cried, "It's too late!"

The man known as Tom cried as he was in the grip of the Titans, ready to be eaten.

"Don't!" the soldier who wanted to save him cried, but another Titan caught him before he could get to Tom. Jean's body began shaking. Why wouldn't his body move? Why?

Tom widened his eyes as the Titan opened his mouth, ready to eat him. Tom screamed for his life, but instead of getting crushed by giant teeth, he fell to the floor with a thud. Tom and everyone around them looked up to see a blade go straight through the Titan's head. Tom looked to see who was at the end of the blade and saw that it was the Armored like Titan that was with Armin.

The Titan fell to the floor with a thud as steam rose from his head. The metal titan changed his other hand into some kind of gun and fired one round of some kind of blue substance at a Titan that was holding a female soldier. The Titan's head began to disintegrate as it dropped the girl to the floor. The metal titan then used his blade and sliced the hand of the titan the third soldier was in. The metal titan then stabbed the titan at the nape of the neck. That titan fell to its knees and slide off of the blade to the ground.

The metal titan looked around. Two more titans were heading for Tom and the others. He then used his gun to fire two more shots at the heads. The remaining titans fell to the ground and began to disintegrate. The metal titan noticed that one of the titans was slowly getting up. He walked over to it and stabbed it in the neck before it had the chance to get up.

Everyone widened their eyes in shock at the sight. Armin was right. This titan was fighting for humanity.

The titan that Armin referred to as Optimus pulled his blade out of the titan's neck and waited for some of the blood to evaporate before he somehow changed them back into his hands.

"What is your name?" Optimus asked as he looked over at Jean.

Jean snapped out of his thoughts and slightly stuttered. "It's Jean."

"Jean, take the rest of your comrades to your headquarters." Optimus instructed, "I will assist the ones who can no longer fight and transport them there myself."

Jean paused for a moment before he turned to his comrades. "Listen to him! We need to head for HQ right now!"

Jean jumped onto the roof and ran towards headquarters. Marco and a couple of others were a bit hesitant, but summoned up the courage to follow after him.

Optimus slightly sighed with relief before he knelt down towards the other soldiers. "I will take you to your head quarters safely, but you need to trust me in order to do so."

The three soldiers looked at each other for a moment before they nodded their heads.

Optimus transformed into his alt mode and opened the door. "Get in and brace yourselves."  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------  
Mikasa put the last blade she had in her holder. 'This world is cruel, but also…very beautiful.'

She smiled as she remembered Eren putting the scarf around her neck after he saved her from the traffickers . She lifted her head and closed her eyes. 'It was a good life.'

She waited as she heard the Titan's footsteps coming closer and closer. She waited patiently, but something inside wasn't giving in. As she sensed the titan trying to grab her, she reacted. She grabbed her last blade and sliced two fingers off of the titan. She jumped out of the way as the titan tried to grab her with his other hand, only to hit a wall.

"Eh?" she questioned. The titan slammed his hand into the ground as Mikasa barely dodged it and slammed into the wall back first.

'Why?' she asked herself. The titan slapped his hand into the wall and Mikasa went flying. 'I thought I had given up.'

She grunted as she tumbled and skidded across the ground. She slowly pushed herself up to her knees and looked at the piece of the titan she had cut. 'Why am I standing? Struggling?'

The sun began to shine down on the piece of the titan. 'Why?' She slowly stood up and looked up at the titan who was now standing and looking down at her. 'My life has no meaning anymore. What's keeping me going?'

She was going to make a run for it, but another titan came and blocked her path, stepping over the destroyed building. She was in a dead end.

"Fight!" she remembered Eren telling her the first time that they met. "Fight! Fight!"

"Eren." she muttered.

As the two titans came closer to her, the word grew louder and louder. "Fight! You must fight! Fight! Fight!"

Mikasa gasped in realization as tears came down her face. 'I'm sorry, Eren. I won't give up.'

Her memories of Eren flashed through her mind. 'I'll never give up again. If I die, I won't be able to remember you. That's why, I'll survive no matter what! I'll live on no matter what!'

Mikasa got into a battle stance and let out a battle cry, ready to defend herself, but she was suddenly shot into the air by an unknown force. She protected her head as she slid across the ground.

"What's going on?" she asked, but widened her eyes at the sight. It was a 15 meter class titan with a muscular body. Its hair stopped right at the nape of the neck, and she noticed pointed ears in between. The titan had no lips, but its teeth were showing completely. Mikasa looked in wonder. What was that?

The titan let out a loud roar as Mikasa covered her ears. She looked to see the titan, stomping his foot on the other one, killing it.

'A titan…killing another titan?' Mikasa asked herself. She took her hands off of her ears and looked in shock and surprise.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Jean crashed through the glass and skidded across the wooden floor of their HQ. He made it in one piece. He looked up to see his other comrades crash through the glass windows and land on the floor.

"How many made it?" Marco asked.

They heard a small rumbling noise and turned around to see the three soldiers from earlier jump out of a hand and into the building.

"How did you?" Jean began to question.

"That Optimus guy is faster than the horses itself." Tom answered.

Some of soldiers looked through the broken window to see Optimus land on the ground and activate his blades. Jean didn't look. He was too deep into his thoughts to think.

'If that titan wasn't there, more comrades could've died in my command.' Jean thought, 'We already lost a good amount of them already.'

Jean turned around and saw two soldiers hiding under a desk with a horrified look on their face. One just sat there, while the other soldier was crying. The crying soldier had blood on her uniform she didn't bother wiping off.

"Aren't you guys with the supply team?" Jean asked.

"Yeah," the horrified soldier answered.

Jean pulled him out from under the desk and gripped his uniform. He gave him a punch in the face, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious. Before Jean could do anything else to hurt him, Marco held him back with his arms.

"Stop it!" Marco yelled.

"They're the ones who abandoned us!" Jean yelled at the two, "Because of you, more died than was necessary!"

"Titans came into the area!" The crying soldier reasoned, "We couldn't do anything!"

"Doing something is your job!" Jean retorted.

They all heard rumbling from outside as it got closer and closer to the building.

"Get down!" Reiner yelled, but it was too late. A titan used its face to create a large hole in the headquarters. The force sent the soldiers in the room flying back.

"Damn it!" Jean cursed as he got up and looked back, "Too many people are in one place!"

The soldiers inside the building began to run deeper into the building for their lives. Some told everyone to hurry up, others asked where Mikasa was, only for others to say she ran out of gas and was eaten.

'This is normal,' Jean thought as he was greeted with two disturbing smiles, 'This is reality. Was my hope just an impossible dream? I should have known that this is reality. It should've been a simple enough realization, that we could never beat something so huge.'

Jean widened his eyes and everything went in slow motion. A large hand shaped into a fist collided with the first titan's face. The face was slowly deforming as it made contact with the other face.

"What?" Jean gasped, as the realization hit him. The two titans were punched off of headquarters by another titan. The new titan let out a terrifying roar at the other two titans he punched.

Optimus looked over to see the titan roaring at his opponent. Optimus was confused. From what he observed these titans attacked humans and that they weren't sentient. Was there something special with that one?

"What is that?" Jean asked aloud.

He heard a loud crashing noise and turned to see Mikasa come through the now broken window with Connie, who was carrying Armin in his arms.

"Mikasa?" Jean asked in surprise and shock.

"That was close," Connie remarked with relief, "I'm all out, but we made it! We made it just barely!"

"You're alive!" Jean exclaimed.

"You did it, Armin! Your plan worked." Connie said with happiness as he patted Armin on the back, much to his displeasure. "Everyone!"

Everyone began to listen to Connie as he pointed at the 15 meter class titan. "That Titan is an Aberrant that kills other titans. And it isn't interested in us. If we can use it along with that Prime titan, we can escape!"

"Use the titan?" a soldier asked.

"A titan helping us?" Jean asked, "Do you even know if that thing possess intelligence? With Optimus its somehow reasonable, but an average one? That sounds like a dream-"

"It's not a dream," Mikasa interrupted, "I don't care if it's an aberrant or whatever, We need him and the metal titan to stay here and to keep fighting. That is our most realistic chance of survival."

The rogue titan punched another titan to the ground while Optimus cut the head off of another one. The rogue titan let out a loud roar, attracting more titans to the area.

'I must be careful.' Optimus thought, 'If I am not I may kill the humans inside the building.'

He widened his optics as he heard loud footsteps getting closer. He turned to see the rogue titan getting ready to punch him. Optimus slightly froze as the fist was going to make contact with his faceplates.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
The trainees sat patiently as an elevator was coming up from the bottom floor where the gas was.

"How much do you know about those Titans?" Reiner asked Connie.

"We can worry about that later. Let's just get out of here first." Connie said, "And besides, the Prime guy shown he possesses intelligence."

"You're right." Reiner smirked, "We'll get out of here first."

"We found it!" Jean called out as he and a couple of trainees came in with large boxes. "This is the Military Police stuff. It was covered in dust."

They all opened the boxes to reveal multiple rifles, enough for everyone, matter of fact.

"Are scatter shots really enough?" Jean asked as he loaded the rifle. "Will these rifles, actually be of any use against the Titans?"

"I think it's a lot better than nothing." Armin remarked as he began to explain his plans, "If there are still only seven 3-to-4 meter class titan in the supply room, even this may be enough fire power to blind them all at once. First, we'll use the lift to lower a large amount of people through the central ceiling. They'll fire at the seven faces of the titans in unison to blind them. And then the next instant will be critical. The seven of us hidden among the ceiling beams will strike the blinded titans in a coordinated ambush. In other words, in this plan, all of our lives, will depend on this one strike."

"The seven must kill seven titans at the same time with a single strike." Armin declared, "The seven will be those of us whose skills give us the best chance, but…I'm sorry to make them bear the weight of everyone's lives."

"It's alright." Reiner reassured.

"Regardless of who goes, everyone dies if we fail," Annie stated. "The risk is the same."

"But is the plan I conceived, really the best one?" Armin asked, unsure of himself.

"It's our only option," Marco answered, "There's no time, and this is the best plan we'll have. We just have to give it all we got!"

"It's fine." Mikasa reassured, "Have confidence in yourself. You have the ability to find the right solution."

"What?" Armin questioned.

"That ability saved both Eren and me," Mikasa continued.

"When was this?" Armin asked in confusion. He didn't remember saving any of his friends. His friends were always saving him.

The door to the lift opened and a soldier stepped inside.

"The lift's ready!" the soldier informed, "The guns too! They're all loaded!"

"You just don't realize it." Mikasa said, "We'll talk later."

"Yeah.." Armin trailed off before going in the lift.

"But can we kill Titans without Maneuver Gear?" Connie asked as he walked down the stairs with Reiner and the others.

"Sure, we can." Reiner answered, "They're 3-to-4 meter class Titans. The target will be easy to hit."

"Yeah," Jean began, "No matter what the size, the target is always that one spot on the neck."

"One meter long! Ten centimeters wide!" Sasha recited.

"Or we could shove this up their ass." Reiner joke as he held his blade, "These are their only two weak points."

"I didn't know about that!" Connie said, "We can do that too?"

"Reiner," Jean called out, "Those may well end up being your last words."

The lift was being lowered into the supply room as the rest of the trainees were in potion, pointing the rifles from all of the blind spots.

"It's okay." Marco reassured as the lift stopped, "Their numbers haven't changed. We're still a go!"

A titan walked right next to the lift and came to a stop. It seemed to notice them, because the titan turned around to look at them with a sadistic smile. A man gasped in shock as he was beginning to panic.

"Keep calm!" Marco instructed, "Draw them in!"

The other titans noticed them as well and began to walk towards the lift.

"Wait," Marco said.

Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner were all in position on the ceiling beams, waiting to strike.

"Avoid fighting from a disadvantage," Jean warned, "If you don't want them all to die, finish them off with one strike."

"Wait," Marco said.

The titans got closer and closer towards the lift. Trainees began to shake as they took aim.

"Ready," Marco said as he moved his finger to the trigger, "FIRE!"  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus dodged another strike from the rogue titan as he kicked a regular titan behind him, sending it flying. The rogue titans tried to punch him again, but Optimus blocked it with his arm.

The force of the punch actually shattered the hand of the rogue titan, but it regenerated quickly.

Optimus gritted his denta behind his mask. Something was definitely not right with that titan. It has basic combat moves and knew of the titans' weak point. There had to be something wrong with it! Or maybe…

Optimus did a quick scan of the titan as he elbowed a titan in the stomach. Optimus widened his optics as he found a life signature at the nape of the neck where the titans' weak points were. Someone was in there controlling the titan's body.

But how was he going to get him out? His blades were too large. He might end up hurting whoever was inside there, maybe even killing him or her. And where would he take him? There wouldn't be a safe place to put him if he even managed to get him or her out without hurting the person. Optimus was at a deadlock.

The rogue titan tried to grab Optimus with both of its hands, but Optimus grabbed them as well. They were both pushing at each other as the titans came closer to them.

Optimus looked around him and so did the rogue titan. Optimus looked back at the rogue titan. He needed to try to reason with it, or find a way to show that he was trying to help the rogue titan.

"Listen to me!" Optimus yelled. "I am on your side! I am trying to get rid of these creatures like you are!"

The rogue titan didn't seem to listen as it still tried to force Optimus down. Optimus looked behind the rogue titan and saw a titan was coming to attack it. Optimus transformed his servo into a gun and fired at the head. The titan then fell to the floor and its body began to disintegrate.

The rogue titan looked back at the body before he looked back at Optimus. Optimus noticed that the rogue titan was studying him. The rogue titan was about to punch him once again. As Optimus was about to defend himself, the fist went past him and it punched another titan behind him.

Optimus and the rogue titan looked back at each other before they went off and continued to attack the other titans.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The trainees filled up their gas tanks as the titans bodies began to disappear. The plan was a success, however Sasha and Connie didn't kill their assigned titan, and Annie and Mikasa were the ones that killed them. And Sasha was still crying after her ordeal, in fear and shame.

"We did it." A soldier said with relief, "We're safe now."

"The titans aren't coming in," Another soldier said, "It's thanks to those two titans fighting outside."

"I accepted defeat before I faced the titans," Sasha muttered to herself, "I'm so ashamed!"

"I'll despise you all you want later!" Connie told her, "Let's get out of here!"

Jean and Marco sat together as they were refueling their tanks.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a leader." Jean spoke, "Don't say things like that again."

"I hope you won't get mad when I say this," Marco began, "but you aren't a strong person. So you can relate to how the weak feel. I think it's the same thing with that metal titan for some reason. He's using his power to protect the weak. He somehow understands them."

Jean sighed as he stopped refueling his tanks. "But he knew what to do. He was able to take command and save our comrades. I probably wouldn't have been able to save them."

"Maybe you could ask him for advice," Marco suggested, "He was able to size up to the situation. You do that as well. You both knew what had to be done."

Jean looked at Marco in surprise while Marco just smiled at him. "That's why was able to follow you and trust the metal titan. I know putting my trust in someone I just met sounds stupid, but for some reason I could. And that's why I'm alive."

"You ready?" a soldier as they finished filling up their tanks and headed outside.

"We all head out together!" another soldier declared as the trainees took off.

"Scale the walls!" the first soldier said.

Armin ran outside and looked for Mikasa. He was surprised to see her on the roof, staring at something. "Mikasa?"

Armin hooked onto the top of the building and was practically pulled up. He landed next to Mikasa and looked at her in slight confusion.

"Mikasa, we have to run." Armin informed.

"That titan," Mikasa began.

Armin looked into her direction and widened his eyes. The rogue titan was being eaten by the other titans surrounding the area. Optimus couldn't help it at the moment because he was dealing with another set of titans.

"Cannibalism?" Armin questioned. "Can it not regenerate its body?"

"I thought that if we could solve the mystery of that titan, it may give us a way to overcome our bleak predicament." Mikasa spoke.

"I agree." a voice said.

Mikasa turned to see Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean on the roof with them.

"If it gets eaten we won't learn anything." Renier said, "Let's try keeping it alive by killing the ones clinging to it."

Optimus then stabbed the titans surrounding the rogue titan and kicked them away. The rogue titan almost fell, but Optimus caught the rogue titan before it hit the ground. Its ribcage was eaten away at and its arms were practically useless.

"The metal titan has it taken care of," Jean retorted, "We just need to get out of here!"

"But what if the titan could prove to be a valuable ally along with the metal titan." Annie reasoned, "Their abilities are more useful than any cannon."

"The regular titan is the one we can't trust." Jean retorted, "The metal titan maybe, but…"

Armin widened his eyes as he saw a 15 meter class titan with blonde hair. "That's the titan that ate Thomas!"

The rogue titan roared as it kicked its way out of Optimus' grasp. He ran over to the titan and chomped down at the nape of the neck, shocking everyone. The rogue titan raised the titan high into the air, despite the fact that its ribs were breaking. The rogue titan slammed the body onto two other titans. Another titan was coming up from behind but the rogue titan threw the body at the other titan, ripping the nape of the neck in the process. The two titans collided and crashed into a building.

"Come on," Jean began, looking in horror, "It doesn't need our help."

The rogue titan gave a triumphant roar before it collapsed to the floor unconscious. Armin and Mikasa looked in shock. One of their only chances of defeating the titans was gone.

"I guess it finally exhausted itself," Jean said as he turned away, "That's enough, we're leaving. That thing couldn't possibly help us. A titan is still a titan."

Armin widened his eyes as he saw Optimus run over to the body. "Optimus, what are you doing?"

Everyone stared in confusion as they saw Optimus kneel down and try to carefully pull something out of the nape of the neck. Optimus made a daring move and used his blade to cut the remaining skin at the neck.

"What's he doing?" Jean asked.

Optimus moved his hands out of the way as someone emerged from the titan's body unconscious. Optimus made a quick scan to see if he was alive. He was and he was in good shape.

Mikasa gasped as she knew who the unconscious person was. 'Eren.'

Mikasa used her 3D Gear to get down from the building. Once she was on the ground, she ran to Eren as fast as she could. She didn't care about anything else right now. She didn't care about her teammates, or the metal titan. The only thing she care about was getting to Eren. This couldn't be true. Armin said that Eren was eaten. He couldn't be alive.

Mikasa hugged Eren and held onto him for what seemed to be an eternity. She could feel him. This was the same person that saved her all those years ago. But was he alive?

Mikasa put her ear against Eren's chest. After a long time, at least it seemed like it to her, she felt a warm heartbeat, and it kept beating. He was really alive. Mikasa began choking as tears welled up in her eyes. And all of her emotions began to spill.

Mikasa began crying, with relief, sadness, whatever emotion she could think of, and let it all out.

Optimus picked both of them up and put them up at the highest part of the building along with Armin and the others. Everyone just looked in shock while Mikasa just didn't let go of Eren.

'It's Eren.' Armin thought, 'He regained the limbs he lost. I saw the Titan swallow Eren whole before Optimus saved me. I saw…'

Armin finally began to cry as he held the hand Eren lost. "What happened?"

Optimus wanted to smile slightly. It was very rare for somebody to find someone that they have lost, or find out that they were still alive. Armin and Mikasa, they were both lucky, but that also meant…

"Then that means," Optimus began, getting everyone else's attention, "That Eren was also the cause of part of the destruction."

Now there was only one question that was hanging in the air: What now?


	3. The Battle of Trost

Jean could find the situation he was in pretty awkward. Well, sure having girl problems was one (specifically Mikasa), but being in the hands of a giant sentient metal titan was one of the most awkward situations he has ever been in. He was in one hand with Armin, while Mikasa was holding Eren in the other hand. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were on the titan's, or Optimus' shoulders as he made his way towards the wall.

There was silence as Optimus walked towards the wall carefully, avoiding the titans in the area. Suddenly, Reiner, being the joking person he is, decides to make a remark to break the silence.

"It's a pretty nice view from up here." he remarked.

Jean grew a tick mark.

"Is this really the time?!" Jean demanded, "We just saw Eren emerge from a titan, and out of all the things you could say is that 'it's a pretty nice view from up here?!'"

Reiner just shrugged as he tried to keep a steady position on Optimus' shoulder.

Armin looked over towards the wall to see a lift being lowered down.

"Over there." Armin told Optimus as he pointed in that direction.

Optimus saw the lift and walked over to it. He could see the people at the top of the wall looking down at him with a terrified face. Optimus simply ignored the fact and lifted Jean and Armin to the lift. They hopped onto the lift, as Optimus lifted Mikasa and Eren to the lift as well. Jean and Armin helped Eren onto the lift while Optimus gestured for Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie to jump into his hands. They carefully jumped into his hand as he moved his hand towards the lift. The three jumped onto the lift before they were all pulled up towards the top of the wall.

"Optimus!" Armin called out, "What about you?"

"I will fight off as many titans as I can." Optimus answered.

Armin nodded his head in understanding as they were all at the top of the wall. Before they were taken to the next lift, Armin looked back down at Optimus.

"Stay alive!" Armin yelled.

Optimus nodded his head in understanding before Armin ran off. Optimus then looked over at the sight before him. This whole place was hell, all because of these creatures. These creatures were the reason for the loss of many innocent lives.

Optimus shook his head as he activated his blades. He needed to get rid of as much of the threat as much as he could.

The eight soldiers were lowered down to the other side of Wall Rose. They all widened their eyes in shock to see the Commander and other soldiers surrounding that area.

"All of you are to leave Eren Jaeger here," the Commander ordered while having a terrified look on his face, "If you ever speak of these events you will all be charged for treason against the king."

Bertholdt looked over at Reiner before they walked away. Annie brushed her hair to the side of her face before she followed the suite as well. Jean was a tad bit hesitant, but followed the three. He looked back at Armin and Mikasa, who didn't even move.

"Just go without us," Armin said.

Jean hesitated again, but walked away from the three. The Commander looked back at Armin and Mikasa as Mikasa drew her blades.

"For not following order, you have been charged with treason, and the punishment is death!" the Commander declared.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------

"And then we managed to refuel, and escape from Trost," Connie finished explaining to Ymir and Krista.

"So that's what happened," Krista sighed, "I'm sorry. I requested supply deliveries for you multiple times."

"We'd even gotten our hands on the gas and all." Ymir added.

"So that means, the people who aren't here…" Krista trailed off.

Connie hung his head. "Yeah,"

"Even that Mikasa?" Ymir asked.

"No," Connie answered, "I thought Mikasa'd come here later with Jean and the others."

As if on cue, Jean came walking by with an exhausted look on his face while holding a pouch filled with water. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were right behind him. Jean collapsed on a seat as he drank the water in the pouch.

"Jean," Ymir called out, "Don't tell me Mikasa got hurt?"

Jean just glared at them as he drank more water.

"Jean, what's wrong?" Connie asked.

"They gave us a gag order," Jean explained, "We can't tell you."

"A gag order?" Connie asked, "So you can't talk about that Prime guy?"

Ymir looked at Connie with a confused looked. "Prime guy?"

"Not that," Jean answered, "It's something else we can't speak about. And besides, I'm pretty sure that the information about him spread around."

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Ymir demanded, "I don't remember someone being called 'Prime.'"

Connie looked over at Ymir and Krista. "It's hard to explain, but there's this Titan that looked like it was completely made out of metal. It could transform its hand into weapons, and it had very advanced skills of fighting."

Krista looked at Connie in shock while Ymir began to laugh mockingly.

"A Titan with that kind of ability?" Ymir questioned with a smirk on her face, "Like that's even re-"

"He's not lying." Jean cut Ymir off, causing her to look over at him in disbelief.

"Did you guys hit your heads or something?" Ymir asked.

"Ymir, this isn't some kind of joke!" Jean yelled, "Honestly, if it weren't for him, more soldiers would've died."

Krista looked at Jean in confusion. "Him?"

"Yeah," Connie answered, "It's a guy, mainly because of the way he speaks."

"It spoke?!" Krista asked in shock.

Jean nodded his head. "He knew our language, and Connie was right when he said he had a lot of experience fighting. The way he fought those titans, looked like he did it his whole life. Either way, the Garrison can't keep him quiet. He's already fighting the titans on the other side of the wall. Humanity will know about both of them…assuming humanity survives that long."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
Eren was confused. No, he wasn't confused, that would be an understatement. He was doing back flips in his head! The last thing he remembered was being eaten by a titan, but he honestly thought that was a dream. But when he woke up, there were soldiers pointing weapons at him. No, at them.

Mikasa had her weapons ready to go so she could fight, and Armin was sitting next to him.

They all looked at him like he was some sort of monster. Hell, even the Commander was asking if he was a human or a titan, because they were all saying that he emerged from a titan. That just sounded ridiculous, but no one was denying that fact. Not even Mikasa or Armin. Was it really true? And were they talking about the Armored Titan that was fighting the titans in Trost? What the fuck was going on?

"I will not ask you again!" The Commander yelled, "What are you?"

Eren began to panic. Armin and Mikasa looked back at him, waiting for an answer like everyone else. He couldn't screw up with his answer. If he did, then they would die along with him. He couldn't let that happen. They were all that he had left.

"I'm human!" Eren answered.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus sliced off the head of the last titan that he was battling before he crushed the nape of the neck with his foot. He looked over to see more titans coming from the breach in the wall.

Optimus gritted his denta. There was too many! No matter how many he killed, more and more just came in. This was just getting too frustrating. There had to be a way to plug up that hole.

Suddenly, Optimus heard cannon fire and turned around to see a streak of golden lighting come down from the sky. Optimus widened his optics as he remembered seeing that same streak of lighting come down earlier when he was looking around this world. When he came to the spot where he saw the lighting, there was a hole in the wall.

'Has that lighting strike created another hole?' Optimus thought.

Optimus immediately transformed into his vehicle mode and drove towards the area where the lighting hit. He was on the other side of this town so it took him a while. When he reached the area, he screeched to a stop and transformed into his bipedal mode.

He was going to yell for Armin and the others, but the others humans were already scared of him as it was. He couldn't make the matters worse. He could already hear panicking on the other side of the wall from whatever that was. But it didn't make sense. Those two lightings strikes, they had to be somehow connected. There was no way it was a coincidence.

He suddenly heard a loud clanging noise and someone yelling to stop.

"You've finally showed your true colors, monsters!" someone yelled, "I'll signal! I'll signal the cannons!"

"He isn't the enemy of mankind!" another person yelled, who Optimus concluded was Armin, "We're willing to share all the intelligence we've gathered so far!"

Optimus was confused. Who were they talking about? Optimus hasn't stepped over the wall. He then widened his optics. They were talking about that boy, Eren. He must've been the cause of that lighting strike.

"Begging for your lives is useless now!" the first person from before yelled, "He revealed his true form right in front of us! There's nothing left to say! That Armored Titan is out there and easily break the wall! If you say he's not an enemy, prove it! If you can't do that, I'll eliminate the threat! Both threats!"

'Why is everyone comparing me to this Armored Titan?' Optimus thought.

"There's no need for proof!" Armin retorted, "Besides, how we see either of them is not an issue!"

"What?!" The man demanded.

"I've heard many have seen both of them in action! If that's true, then they must've seen them fighting the Titans!" Armin explained, "And that also includes the sight of the surrounding titans swarming him! Also, if the Armored Titan were here, it would've busted through the wall by now! The Titan is currently fighting and killing off the titans that are entering the city! He's even saved more of our comrades! No matter how we go about it, the facts can't be denied!"

Optimus then heard muttering that he couldn't make out, but it seemed like they were beginning to calm down. Until…

"Prepare to attack!" the man Optimus concluded was the Commander, "Don't be fooled by his clever tricks! Their actions have always been beyond our comprehension! It must be possible for them to imitate our form and speech to delude us! And even though that Armored Titan is fighting the other titans, who knows what will happen after that! We cannot allow them to do as they please any longer!"

Optimus was getting worried. He could sense the fear in the Commander's voice, but if Armin didn't convince them, they could all be killed. Optimus was about to put a distraction, but he heard Armin beginning to yell.

"I am a soldier that has long since offered his life for the revival of mankind!" Armin yelled, "To perish while obeying that conviction would be my life's greatest glory! If we were to utilize both of the Titans' powers, and add it to our remaining forces, recapturing this town would no longer be impossible! Praying for the glory of mankind, I will elaborate on both of their strategic worth with all the time I have left!"

There was silence for a moment before he heard the commander yell, "Shut up!"

Optimus transformed his servo into a gun and pointed it to the sky. The Commander was getting ready to fire. He needed to create a distraction. As he was getting ready to fire, he picked up someone telling him to stop.

"As big as you are, you've always been as delicate as a newborn faun." the newcomer said.

Optimus stopped charging his gun and listened.

"Do you not see his splendid salute?" the newcomer asked, "I have just arrived, but the messenger kept me abreast of the situation. You go command the reinforcements. I think we should listen to them."

Optimus slightly sighed with relief. They were going to be fine for now. He ran away from the wall and continued to eliminate the threat.  
\----------------------------------------------------------  
Commander Dot Pixis walked casually along Wall Rose while drinking from his small container. Behind him were Cadets Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and Eren Jaeger. When he came to Trost, he was informed about the situation, and honestly, he was surprised. It seemed that Cadet Eren Jaeger emerged from a titan's body, but not before killing twenty regular titans in the process. Also, the Armored Titan, fighting against other titans. This situation was definitely interesting.

He looked down to see the titans trying to climb the wall. "No luck, huh? I wouldn't mind being eaten by a beautiful titan woman."

He looked over at the three cadets, who had pretty uneasy looks. "Would you mind explaining to me what is going on?"

Armin and Eren took turns explaining to him the full story of what was going on and what Eren saw before he transformed into a titan to stop a HE cannon.

"I see," he began, "So you believe that basement holds all the answers you seek?"

"Yes," Eren answered, "Will you believe me sir?"

"Since even you yourself can't say for sure, let's just say I'll keep it in mind for now," Pixis answered, "However, you can prove your true intentions by your actions right now. I'll guarantee your safety."

Pixis noticed the three relaxing with relief. He looked over at the blonde child who he believe was Armin Arlert.

"Cadet Arlert, was it?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!" Armin saluted.

"Earlier, you said by using both of the Titans' powers, we might be able to retake the city," Pixis recalled, "Do you really believe that, or were you just desperate to save your life?"

"It was…both, sir!" Armin answered. "I was trying to say that Eren could use his titan form, carry the boulder to the wall, and use it to seal the breach. And Eren wasn't able to, I was thinking that Optimus would be able to take on the task."

Pixis looked at Armin with slight curiosity. "Optimus? Is he a titan shifter as well?"

Armin shook his head. "He is the one everyone is referring to as the Armored Titan. However, he is not. I have seen the Armored Titan before, and he is not it. He is probably even stronger than that, and has advanced combat skills. He even save more of our comrades."

Pixis slightly chuckled. "This is very impressive, however it is hard to believe. Could you point out where he is?"

A battle cry was heard from below the wall, followed by a shifting noise. Pixis looked down the wall to see titan's heads being cut off, while some of the 3 to 4 meter class titans were being kicked away from the wall. The headless titans were slowly regenerating, but the nape of the necks were sliced off quickly.

Pixis looked in surprise and amazement as the three cadets walked over to see what was going on.

"It's hard not to miss something like that." Armin remarked.

"So you must be the titan everyone is talking about," Pixis called out.

The titan looked up at Pixis with a calm expression.

"You've made quite the impression on humanity," Pixis continued, "Although, they do mistaken you for the Armored Titan."

"I am not this 'Armored Titan' of which your kind speaks of," the titan explained, "My body parts are entirely made out of metal."

Eren looked like he was going to fall over Wall Rose. He looked over at Armin with a calm expression, like this wasn't anything new to him. He then looked over at Mikasa, who was more cautious then shocked.

Seriously, what did he miss?! This titan just spoke and Armin was acting like it was a natural thing! What was going on when he was unconscious?!

Pixis was definitely surprised now. "So you can speak as well. Cadet Arlert, you were telling the truth after all. Anyway, what is your name?"

"My name is Optimus Prime," He answered.

"Optimus Prime, it seems fitting. Since you seem to be fighting for humanity, would you mind helping us out with something then?" Pixis asked.

"What do you wish for me to do?" Optimus asked.

"We wanted you to guard Eren as he carries a boulder that could seal the breach into the wall, since the titans see him as prey." Armin explained, " And if something goes wrong, you could carry the boulder to the breach in the wall."

Optimus nodded his head in understanding. "I will do it."

Pixis nodded his head before he looked over at Eren. "Cadet Jaeger, can you do it?"

Eren widened his eyes as he looked away. "I'm not sure. I'm just as confused as everyone else is. It would be irresponsible for me to answer if I knew either way."

"Oh sorry, I asked the wrong question." Pixis apologized as Eren looked at him in confusion.

Pixis' smile disappeared as he looked at Eren with a serious face. "Will you do it or not? Which is it?"

Eren widened his eyes as Pixis looked behind him. Eren turned around to see what he was looking at. He understood. If this operation failed, Wall Rose would become territory for the titans, and humanity would no longer be able to prosper. Humanity would be extinct if this plan didn't work. This is what he was fighting for.

Eren looked back at Commander Pixis with determination. "I'll do it. I will do it. I'm not certain if I can close the gap, but I will do it."

Pixis nodded his head in understanding before he looked back down at Optimus. " Well said, the operation will proceed. However what are you doing to do during that time?"

"I will eliminate as much of the threat as I can." Optimus answered, "If there are not that many of these creatures on the battlefield, it can make the operation more of a success."

Pixis nodded his head in understanding. "Then I wish you good luck."

Optimus turned around and transformed into his alt mode. He accelerated towards the battlefield to kill more titans.

Pixis chuckled. "You found an interesting one, Cadet Armin."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
"A plan to retake Trost?" a soldier asked.

"You're kidding," another soldier said, "We have no way to seal the hole."

"What is the brass thinking?" a soldier demanded, "Going back to Trost would mean certain death."

"The only we can do is die as we defend Wall Rose's gates." another soldier muttered.

"I have to return to that hell?" Daz asked himself, "No! I don't want to die! Let me see my family!"

"Daz, you're being too loud," Marco whispered to him.

"You there, I heard you!" a soldier yelled as he walked over to Daz and Marco, "Are you saying that you want to abandon the mission?"

"That's right!" Daz answered, "This is nothing but mass suicide! It's meaningless!"

"Have you no respect for humanity? For order?" the soldier demanded as he was prepared to draw his sword, "If I chose to, I could execute you right here!"

"Go ahead," Daz offered as he drew his sword, "It's a hundred times better than getting eaten by a titan."

"Daz, stop it!" Marco begged.

"No let me go!" Daz screamed.

There fighting continued as more and more people heard. Some shoulder began to beg other to start a riot, so they wouldn't have to go back in there and risk their lives. Others were already beginning to panic, begging not to go back into Trost.

Pixis and Eren arrived at the gates of Wall Rose as they finished their conversation. Pixis was simply calm as he heard the screams of terror. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"ATTENTION!" Pixis commanded.

Everyone stopped their fighting and began to listen to the Commander.

"I shall now explain the plan to retake Trost! For this mission, our objective is to seal the hole where he gate was destroyed!" Pixis explained.

The soldiers looked up at him in shock, how were they going to do that.

"Seal it?" Marco questioned, "How?"

"Let me introduce you to the one who will seal the hole for us," Pixis continued as he gestured for Eren to step forward, "From the trainee corps, Eren Jaeger."

"E-Eren!" Connie exclaimed.

"He is the result of a top secret project to turn humans into titans!" Pixis explained, "He can create and control a Titan's body!"

Connie widened his eyes in shock as he voice squeaked. "Hey! I have no idea what the Commander's talking about. Am I just too stupid to get it or something?"

"Will you shut up idiot?" Ymir demanded.

"He will become a Titan," Pixis proceeded, "pick up the giant boulder by the shattered gate, carry it over, and seal the hole. If that fails, the titan that is currently fighting the other ones, Optimus Prime, will take on the task himself."

"Prime?" Connie questioned.

"So you weren't joking," Ymir remarked.

"However, if all goes right, your jobs will be to protect him from the titans while he moves the boulder!" Pixis said.

Everyone was completely baffled by what was going on. Carry the boulder? Was that even possible?

"Is it possible?" a soldier asked, "Has humanity finally learned to control the titans?"

"You're lying!" Daz yelled, "I won't put my life on the line for a plan I can't understand! What do you think we are? We aren't pawns for you to sacrifice!"

"I'm leaving!" a soldier declared as he walked away. Others soldier began to look at each other before they followed the suite.

"This is the death penalty!" a soldier yelled as he grabbed Daz's shoulder, only for him to swat it away.

"I'll spend humanities last hours with my family!" Daz declared as he continued to walk away.

Commander Feldman growled as he drew his swords. "Ready to die traitors?! I'll kill you right now!"

"Here is my decision!" Pixis yelled, causing everyone to quiet down, "I shall pardon anyone who deserts now. Once you succumb to the Titan's fear, you can never fight them again. Those who have learned that fear should leave! And anyone wishing their parents, siblings, and loved ones to feel that fear should also leave!"

The soldiers who were planning to leave stopped dead in their tracks, as the visions of the people that they loved were being eaten.

"I can't do that," a soldier declared as he walked back, "My daughter is my last hope."

"Let me tell you what happened four years ago!" Pixis began, "About our attempt to retake Wall Maria. As I am sure you are all aware of, that operation was no more than the government's way of dealing with its inability to feed all of the unemployed. It was a culling. The reason no one speaks of it is because, by sending them out of these cramped walls, we were able to survive within them! All of humanity, including myself, bears the weight of that sin! Because so few escaped Wall Maria, there was never an open rebellion! But what about now?"

"If Wall Rose falls, the sacrifice with just be more that twenty percent. The territory with Wall Sina won't even support half of the remaining population! If humanity falls, it won't be because it was devoured by Titans. It will be because we killed each other! We must not die even deeper within the Walls. I beg of you to die right here!"

Later, Eren and Mikasa were running on top of the wall with the elite of the Garrison troops. They were currently finding the closet way to make it to the boulder.

"Eren, are you feeling alright?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah," Eren answered with slight irritation.

"Eren," Mikasa began.

"I told you I'm fine!" Eren said, "Much better than when we were surrounded."

"We aren't playing house here, Jaeger!" Riko told them.

"I didn't mean…" Eren trailed off, but noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He gasped as he saw the metal titan, Optimus Prime, running towards them.

"So that's the titan that everyone was making a fit about," Riko remarked.

"I can't believe that we're putting the fate of humanity into a spoiled brat like you, and that thing," one of the elite said.

"Enough you two," the second elite ordered, "We'll soon reach the shortest route to the boulder."

Optimus watched as Eren Jaeger and Mikasa, along with three other soldiers jumped from the wall and made their way to the boulder. Optimus transformed into his alt mode and raced after them. He noticed a green flare was shot into the air, but continued to drive forward.

As he arrived at the boulder, he transformed into his bipedal mode and waited. He saw Eren Jaeger arrive at the boulder. He bit his hand, causing lighting to consume him.

Optimus covered his optics for a brief moment, but widened them as he saw Eren's titan form appear and crash into a building. He then reappeared and let out a mighty roar. Optimus then noticed that Mikasa landed on a building near Eren.

Optimus waited for Eren to pick up the boulder and carry to the wall, but something was off. Optimus widened his optics as Eren turned around to look at Mikasa.

Optimus cursed under his breath as he ran towards the two. Eren attempted to throw a punch at Mikasa, but Optimus grabbed Eren's fist and tried to force him down.

"What?" Mikasa gasped.

"Mikasa, you must leave!" Optimus instructed.

"I can't!" Mikasa retorted, " Eren-"

"You never knew of Eren's abilities, am I correct?" Optimus asked as he focused on Eren.

"Yes," Mikasa answered, "Eren did not know of these abilities either."

"Then Eren must not have much experience or control over it." Optimus explained, "Which means, Eren could easily hurt someone by mistake. Mikasa, it is not safe for you! You must go!"

Mikasa was hesitant, but she then saw the three elite standing not too far from her.

"He's right!" Ian yelled, "Get away from him!"

Mikasa looked at Eren one more time before she ran towards the three.

Optimus knocked Eren off of his feet and pinned him against the boulder. Eren tried struggling, but it was to no avail. Optimus looked over at the three elite soldiers.

"Which one of you are in charge of this operation?" Optimus asked.

Ian was hesitant before he stepped forward. "I am."

"Eren may be in a titan form, but that does not excuse the fact he is still human!" Optimus explained, "More titans will come in through the whole and will be attracted to Eren. I need more time in order to regain Eren's conscious, so someone must defend against the titans coming through!"

"Are you mad?" Riko yelled, "Eren is now a dysfunctional human weapon! What makes you so sure you can regain his conscious?! And besides, you're the one to take Eren's place to carry the boulder."

"If I do not stop Eren, he will continue to rampage and attack other humans like the other titans are! More lives will be lost than necessary if that happens!" Optimus said.

Ian looked over at Riko. "Riko, use your squad and attack the 12 meter class titan. I will attack the 10 meter and six meter class."

Riko slightly growled. "Fine, I'll do it! I'll show them how terrifying humans can be."

And with that Riko took off towards her squad. Mitabi followed the suite and went after his squad. Optimus heard Ian and Mikasa talk about something and then they both left.

Optimus looked back at Eren, who was stilling struggling to break out of his grasp. Optimus slightly growled. He had to knock him out.

Optimus slammed Eren's face into the boulder, shattering a part of his skull. Eren stopped moving as he slumped to the ground unconscious.

Optimus took deep breaths as he observed Eren. From what he could gather so far, titans had the ability to regenerate. Why wasn't Eren regenerating?

Optimus picked Eren up and sat him straight up on the boulder before shaking his shoulders.

"Eren, can you hear me?" Optimus asked as he continued to shake Eren, "If you can hear me, respond. Do some kind of motion! Your comrades are dying! If you don't carry that boulder and seal the gap, your comrades will die in vain! Do you not want to save humanity?!"

"Optimus!" Armin called out as he came in on Eren's shoulder using his Maneuver Gear.

"Armin, what are you doing here?" Optimus demanded, "It's not safe!"

"I saw the red flare!" Armin answered, "Why isn't Eren carrying the boulder?"

"I do not know." Optimus answered, "Eren attempted to attack Mikasa before I intervened."

"Armin!" Mikasa called out as she was standing on a titan's head that she had just killed, "It's dangerous! Move back! Eren's unable to enact his will through that titan body! I spoke to it, but it didn't recognize me! There's no point in trying! Optimus, you need to carry the boulder, or the titans will wipe us all out!"

Optimus looked at Eren before he looked back at Armin. "Armin, is there a way you can make Eren regain consciousness?"

Armin thought about it as he eyed the nape of the neck, where Eren emerged.

"The spot on the back of the neck, ten centimeters across and a meter high." Armin recalled as he pulled out his blades, "Optimus, make sure you can keep Eren in place!"

Optimus nodded his head in understanding.

"Armin!" Mikasa called out.

"I'll get Eren out!" Armin told her. "Protect us from any titans in the area!"

Mikasa looked at Armin in confusion as he hooked onto the shoulder blades of Eren's titan form. "As long as I avoid the center, Eren won't die. It'll only hurt, a tiny bit!"

Armin stabbed Eren in the nape of the neck, causing Eren to thrash around violently. Optimus held Eren in place as much as he could as Armin held onto his blade while practically riding on his back. Optimus wasn't going to lie, Eren's titan form had strength, which meant he had to be extra careful.

"Armin, that's insane! Stop!" Mikasa yelled.

"Mikasa, do what you can do." Armin instructed, "If you go, some lives will be saved! Don't worry about Eren, leave him to me and Optimus."

Mikasa looked over at Optimus, who nodded his head. She was still hesitant, but she jumped of the titan's head and ran off.

"Do you think he can hear you?" Optimus asked.

"I don't know, but I have to try." Armin declared, "Eren, can you hear me? Come to your senses! If we don't get out of here, we'll all died! Don't let the titan's body take over!"

Armin kept repeating this process as Optimus held Eren down. Optimus could hear the screams of people dying, but he had to make sure that Eren would regain consciousness.

"What happened to avenging your mother?" Armin demanded, "Aren't you going to wipe out the titans? Don't you hate the things that killed your mother? Eren, Eren! Wake up, Eren!"

'That must be his drive,' Optimus thought, 'Revenge.' Optimus has seen this many times, how revenge would actually push someone to move forward. It was mainly with Arcee, though. And judging by what he's seen so far in this crazy world, Eren must've seen her get eaten.

"One day, we're going to explore the outside world together, right?" Armin asked.

Now that got Optimus' attention. What did Armin mean by that? He didn't know much of this world, so he was kind of going with the flow of things for right now. But what did Armin mean by that? Has humanity not been able to see their own world because of these creatures?

"Far beyond the walls," Armin continued, "is flaming waters! Frozen earth! Snow-white plains of sand! The world my mom and dad tried to see. I thought maybe you'd forgotten, but the reason you stopped mentioning it, was because you didn't want me joining the Survey Corps, right?"

Optimus could feel Eren stirring just the slightest.

"Eren, answer me, you knew that hell was one step beyond the walls." Armin said, "You might die horribly, like my mom and dad did. So why do you want to go?"

Suddenly, steam began to arise from Eren's skin as he face began to regenerate. Optimus grabbed Armin and stepped back as Eren slowly stood up and let out a roar. Optimus placed Armin on the roof, before he blocked him from view. Optimus wasn't sure if Eren was conscious now, so he had to step lightly.

Eren stopped roaring and looked over at Optimus.

"Eren, can you hear me?" Optimus asked.

Eren glared at him, but nodded his head in response.

"Do you remember the mission?" Optimus asked.

Eren didn't say anything as he turned to look at the boulder.  
\---------------------------------------------------------  
Mikasa widened her eyes as she heard loud footsteps. She turned to see steam rising from under the boulder. She widened her eyes with relief as she saw Eren carrying the boulder. She also saw Optimus guarding Eren with his weapons out.

"Eren." she smiled.

"Mikasa!" Armin called out as he landed next to her.

"Armin!" she said.

"Eren won!" Armin proclaimed, "Now he and Optimus are trying to get the job done! Optimus can't cover Eren all by himself, so we need to help him until they both reach the gate!"

Ian widened his eyes in shock as he looked at the two. If all goes right, humanity could win for the first time. Humanity could strive.

"Defend them both at all costs!" Ian ordered, "Protect Eren and Optimus until they both reach the gate, even if it costs you your lives! Don't let the titans interfere!"

Optimus stabbed a titan before he kicked a smaller titan into another building. He looked over to see Eren slightly struggling with carrying the boulder.

"Eren, you are almost there." Optimus told him, "You need to keep going."

Optimus seemed to have gotten to Eren, because he seemed to be trying harder to carry the boulder.

Optimus widened his optics as he saw two to three titans walking towards Eren. He transformed one of his blades into a gun and fired directly at their heads. They began to disintegrate as they fell to the ground, leaving the soldiers behind them in a daze.

Optimus noticed that the titans were clearing the area. The humans were probably trying to distract the titans that were coming through. Optimus looked over at his data and saw that he had enough energon for his blasters.

Optimus transformed his other blade in a gun and began to fire at the titans head that were near him. The titans began to drop like flies as their head were disintegrating.

Optimus saw another titan come through the breach. He was about to shoot it, but the woman, Riko, came in and cut through the titan's eye, distracting it. Mikasa then came from behind hooked onto the back of the neck before she cut through it.

"Go, Eren!" Optimus heard Armin yelled.

Eren let out a roar before he used the boulder to plug the breach in the wall. It was so much force that cracks began to form through the wall.

Optimus didn't show it, but he was relieved. The fight was finally over. He saw a yellow flare fly through the air, signaling that the mission was a success.


	4. Judgement day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The courtroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of this story which has 16 chapters is on my fanfiction.net account melishade4ever.

Eren gasped as he opened his eyes to find himself looking at a dark ceiling. He slowly got up and moved his arms, only to find them bound to chains.

I see you're finally awake." a voice said.

Eren looked over to see he was behind bars; however, in front of the bars were two men that Eren immediately recognized.

The one sitting down on a chair was Commander Erwin Smith. The one standing up and leaning against the wall was Captain Levi. They were both members of the Scouting Legion with astounding skills.

"Do you have any questions Eren?" Erwin asked.

"Where am I?" Eren asked as he looked around the room he was in.

"You're now in an underground cell," Erwin answered, "As of now, you're under the Military Police's custody. We were granted permission to come and see you."

"What about my friends?" Eren asked.

"They'll be fine," Erwin answered, "We're asking them anything that could be related to how you got your titan power or the metal titan. However, it probably won't be much of a change."

Eren widened his eyes as he saw Erwin pull out a key. "That's the-"

"Yes, this is your key," Erwin interrupted, "You can have it back later, but back in your old home, in Doctor Jaeger's basement in the Zhingashina District, lies the answer to the mystery of the titans. Am I correct?"

"I'm not sure, at least I believe that's what my father said," Eren answered, still unsure.

"So you have amnesia and your dad's gone missing. Isn't that convenient," Levi remarked.

"Levi, we already talked about how he has no reason to lie to us," Erwin told him, before turning back to Eren, "There are thing we need to know. I believe we should ask what is it you want. In order to investigate your home, we need to seal the breach in the wall. That is where you and the metal titan's powers come in. Like it or not, the titans have influenced our fate, including the Colossal and Armored Titan. Your will is the key: the key humanity could use to get out of this hopeless situation."

"Uh…" Eren trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, we don't have all day you piece of crap. What do you want?" Levi demanded with irritation.

Eren looked back at the two with a crazed look in his eyes and a deadly smile. "I want to join the Scouting Legion, and kill every single titan in existence."

Levi's eyes seemed to gleam with amusement. "Not bad. Erwin, tell the higher ups that I will vouch for him."

Levi walked over and gripped one of the bars while giving Eren a deadly look. "Not that I trust him or anything. I just want to be around to kill him if he ever goes on a rampage. I don't think the top brass will disagree. I'm the only one who's fit for the job."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Levi and Erwin walked through the halls of the courtroom after they finished their talk with Eren. They were going over to talk to the other prisoner.

"That metal titan is suspicious," Levi began, "I don't trust it."

"I don't know if I could say the same," Erwin admitted, "However, what matters right now is finding if he has any motives."

"Well he certainly isn't gaining my trust," Levi remarked, "That thing bothered me after it willingly came with us to Wall Sina."  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Flashback 

The Scouting Legion had their blades out as they surrounded the metal titan. The titans were eliminated from the city streets, but now they had to deal with a new kind of titan.

Levi's squad was getting ready to attack, but the metal titan transformed its weapons into hands, before it raised its hands in surrender.

"The hell?" Eld questioned.

Levi looked at his squad to see them completely shocked and confused. He also noticed that Hanji looked like she was going to burst with excitement.

"I do not wish to harm an of you," the metal titan spoke, "I just wanted to help you eliminate the threat."

Everyone in the Scouting Legion looked in shock as some of their mouths dropped. The titan just spoke. The titan just spoke their language like it was the back of his hand.

"That's not possible," Petra gasped.

Hanji began chuckling as she gave a dark smile. She was so going to enjoy this.

"I don't really think you have much to worry about," a voice said.

Levi looked over to see Commander Pixis land on the roof next to them.

"Commander Pixis," Erwin said.

"Commander Smith," Pixis greeted, "The titan, or Optimus Prim is not a threat to humanity. He helped seal the wall along with the titan shifter, Eren Jaeger. Optimus should cooperate with you without any trouble."

Erwin looked back at Optimus. "Will you be willing to cooperate?"

Optimus nodded his head.

"Then we will need to take you to Wall Sina. The Military Police will probably want custody of you." Erwin explained.

"I am sorry to say," Optimus began, "But I do not know where Wall Sina is."

Erwin looked over at Levi's squad. "Levi, take your squad and some other soldiers to the capital."

Levi glared at Optimus before scowling. "Fine."

Erwin and Levi suddenly heard a shifting noise and quickly turned around to see a red and blue machine where the metal titan was standing.

"I forgot to mention," Pixis began as he saw their stunned faces, "Optimus can shift into this. He's actually a lot faster than the horses when like this."

Levi didn't say anything as he turned to his squad. "Let's go."

He could see his squad was hesitant, but they simply complied as they used their 3D Maneuver Gear to get to the gate with Optimus following them .

Erwin heard a strangled yelp as he turned o see Hanji clenching one fist while having an arm around another soldier's next, practically choking him.

"We need to have him!" Hanji proclaimed.

"Let go off me you crazy bitch," the soldier yelled, only for Hanji to tighten her grip around his neck, causing his face to turn blue.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Hanji's going to have a lot of fun with him." Levi remarked.

"It depends if we get custody of him," Erwin reminded, "If we don't win in the courtroom, the metal titan, no, Optimus Prime, will be handed over to the Military Police."

"I could just kill him," Levi suggested.

"That's impossible," Erwin began, "It was reported that a trainee tried to attack him, but her blades shattered on contact."

"So he's stronger than the Armored Titan?" Levi questioned.

"There's a high chance," Erwin answered, "Right now, we need to find out his intentions."  
\-------------------------------------------------------  
In all his years of being alive, (and that's a long time), and being a Prime, Optimus has never been more irritated than ever. He wasn't irritated, he was tempted.

Optimus willingly cooperated to come to Wall Sina and be under the custody of the so-called "Military Police." He was currently being guarded by two of them as they were outside of some courtroom.

Why was he so irritated, you may ask? Because the Military Police were nothing more than arrogant slagheads. They were probably even worse than Knockout when he was with the Decepticons.

He knew that the two soldiers probably didn't care about guarding him, because he was in his alt mode, and the two soldiers probably didn't believe the story about what happened in the city called Trost.

But what he couldn't believe the conversation they were having. The soldiers that fought in Trost were expendable? The titans should've eaten more of their own kind? What was wrong with them?

And that's why he was so tempted to slam his doors into both of their faces, but his morals were the only thing preventing him from doing so.

"Commander Smith," one of the soldiers saluted.

Optimus quietly turned his side-view mirror to see two other soldiers walking towards them.

'Those two I met before,' Optimus thought. He knew that the tall one name's was Erwin Smith, but he was unsure about the short one's name. He believed that he was called Levi.

"We came to speak to the titan," Erwin said.

"You mean this thing?" the second soldier asked, "Good luck with that, it hasn't even said anything."

'Don't do anything just yet,' Optimus told himself.

"Are you sure that this thing helped in the battle for Trost?" the first solider asked, "It looks like a piece of trash to me."

On second thought, to the Pits with it.

Optimus unlocked his door and slammed the first soldier's face with it. The soldier clutched his face in pain as he rolled on the ground. Optimus closed his door and locked it so no one could try to open the door.

"This so-called 'piece of trash' save your race, the soldiers that you thought were expendable," Optimus spoke.

The short soldier Levi glared at the soldier that was looking at Optimus in shock. "Is that right?"

"Levi, that's enough, " Erwin instructed, "We're not here to fight."

Levi scowled. "Whatever."

Erwin looked back at Optimus. "Can we speak with you face to face?"

"I do not think it would be wise to reveal my true form in the middle of a city where thousands of humans are watching," Optimus explained, "I do not wish to cause chaos."

"It's reasonable," Erwin said, " I will go straight to the point: do you know why you're here and what is going to happen?"

"Judging by where I am, your government is going to put me and the boy on trial." Optimus answered.

"You're very observant," Erwin remarked, "but yes, they will determine which military group you will be sent to. You may have helped Trost and humanity; however, there are humans who still fear you."

"It is reasonable," Optimus said, remembering in the past how the humans reacted around him when they met him for the first time.

"There is something I want to ask you," Erwin began, "Do you know anything about the titans that you saw during the battle?"

"I do not know anything about this world," Optimus answered, "I have never seen any of those creatures that you call 'titans.' Your kind refers to me as this 'Armored Titan.' I have never seen or heard of it before."

"This is new," Levi remarked, "A titan that doesn't know of its own kind."

"Those creatures are not my kind. I am not part of their species." Optimus retorted calmly.

Erwin slightly widened his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I wish that I could tell you right now, but I know that this is only a temporary visit. I will speak of my origins during the trial." Optimus told them.

"Then tell us why you're here," Levi demanded, "Since you know nothing about our world,"

Optimus was silent for a moment. "I do not know how or why I am here, but know that I will be fighting for humanity."

Erwin looked over at Levi, who still had a poker-face, before looking back at Optimus. "It's seems that you're telling the truth, but I'm not your judge. Whatever happens during that trial, will determine your fate,"  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"You lucky bastard!" Hanji yelled as Levi drank his tea, "What's he like? Did he show you anything cool? Tell me!"

"He slammed the door into the policeman's face after he was called a 'piece of junk.'" Levi informed, "I'm guessing other stuff happened too, since the titan told us that the policemen said our soldiers were expendable."

"That bitch," Oluo muttered, "If I see him, I'll beat the crap out of him."

"Anything else?" Hanji asked.

"The way he spoke was too formal," Levi told her, "It's annoying if you ask me, but I think he's suspicious."

"Why?" Petra asked.

"Because he said he never knew of our world, and he's never heard of the titans," Levi answered.

His squad and Hanji looked at Levi in surprise.

"Are you serious?" Oluo asked.

Levi simply nodded his head.

"Maybe the titan got amnesia or something?" Eld suggested.

"Or maybe it's from another world!" Hanji squealed in excitement, "A place far more advanced than our own! There's probably more like him! I can't wait to find out!"

"She's at it again," Oluo whispered to Eld, "Crazy as ever."

"Hanji, you're just as ecstatic as ever," Levi remarked sarcastically as he drank his tea.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus was quietly recharging as he was still in his alt mode with two new guard who were more cautious.

Optimus was still mad at the two soldiers from earlier. The main reason was because of what they said about their own kind, their soldiers. But the other reason was because they hadn't seen the casualties. They didn't see the bodies practically literally the streets. The air smelled of death, figuratively and literally. He still couldn't get the image out of his mind.

Optimus shot the last titan in the head before it fell to the ground and disintegrated. He detected more titans a couple of meters away and was about to go over there, but something caught his optics.

It was a half-eaten corpse sprawled on the ground. The blood was dry so it probably wasn't fresh.

The world seemed to slowly come to a stop as he noticed more dead on the ground, on buildings, or leaning of something.

Optimus widened his optics in shock and horror. He was so caught up with getting rid of the threat that he didn't notice something as simple as that. Why? Why were there casualties?

Optimus detected a faint life signature in the rubble of the building next to him. He knelt down and moved the bricks and wood piled on top of the human.

When he saw the human, a female soldier, he carefully pulled her out and held her gently in his servos.

"Are you alright? Can you hear me?" Optimus asked.

"Did we…" the girl was trying to force out, "Did we seal the breach? Did we win?"

"Yes," Optimus immediately answered, "The breach has been sealed. The titans will not be coming in."

The girl forced out a smile as Optimus saw a wound getting worse. "Humanity's …first victory. I'm glad."

Optimus could detect her life force slowly fading. "Listen to me. Save your energy. I'll take you to the nearest medic."

But it was too late, the girl died with a calm, peaceful smile on her face. Optimus widened his optics as he gently put her down on the ground.

He shook his helm before he ran towards the titan's near his area.  
\-----------------------------------------------------  
'I did not even know her name,' Optimus thought.

It broke his spark. He's seen billions of his own people die in the most gruesome way, but why? Why did that girl's death make him feel like he was living in the past? Why did it bother him so much?

Why?  
\-------------------------------------  
Eren sat in his cell as he looked at his chains. It's been around a day or so ago since he woke up from a coma, but Eren was just wondering when he could leave this place?

"May I use the restroom?" Eren asked one soldier.

"You already went," the soldier answered coldly.

"Can I have some water?" Eren asked the second soldier.

"Know your place, monster," he replied as he turned away.

Eren slightly hung his head in confusion as he looked at his chains. He completely understood why they were acting like this, but did they really have to do all of this just to keep him on lockdown?

What about the metal titan? How were they keeping him restrained? They can't really trust him. Eren was born human. The government had everything about him, but the metal titan was different. He was different from the titans, including the Colossal and Armored Titan. He should be worried about it, but it saved Armin and many others, at least that's what he heard.

That's right, his friends. Were they all okay? Did they make it out of Trost alive?

Eren snapped out of his thought as he heard door open from the outside. He waited as he heard footsteps coming towards his cell, but it suddenly got quiet.

Too quiet.

Eren jumped as a woman with glasses nd a ponytail came out of nowhere and clutched the bars while giving him a scary look.

"You must be Eren," she smiled happily, "Are you okay? Anything new? Sorry to keep you waiting, but it seems you're finally getting out."

Eren sighed with relief.

"But you'll have to wear these," she added as she showed Eren handcuffs.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
"I'm Hanji Zoe, a Survey Corps squad leader," she introduced as they walked towards their destination.

Eren tried to move as a man was sniffing him.

"He's another squad leader," Hanji explained, "Mike Zacharius. He has the habit of smelling people he's just met, and then smirking. I don't think it has any real significance. After all, he's good enough that they gave him a squad."

There was silence as they continued walking.

"Oh, sorry! Too much chit-chat," she said as they arrived at a door, "We're already here. Don't worry. It's better not to get any explanations in advance."

Eren widened his eyes as he was being pushed through the door, "Wait!"

"I know it's selfish, but we have no choice but to blindly put our trust in you. Good luck," Hanji said before closing the doors.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------  
"Kneel down there," a policeman order.

Eren simply complied as he kneeled down. The policeman put a pole in between Eren's cuffs.

He tried to move, but it was useless, he was stuck. Eren then looked around to see the Military Police, the Garrison Troops, the Survey Corps, and…Armin and Mikasa?

He looked up to see an old man rolling up his sleeves and sitting down. "Well then, let us begin,"  
\----------------------------------------------------------  
"They're going to start the trial," a guard said.

Optimus woke up from his recharge and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Yeah," the other guard began, "They're finally going to decide what to do with that titan."

'Eren Jaeger,' Optimus thought, 'It would seem that we will be having separate trials.'

"Do you think he'll be handed over to the Survey Corps?" the first guard asked.

"I hope not," the second guard answered, "A titan siding with humanity sounds absurd. I mean the titan could turn on humanity. Probably let the titan in like the Colossal and Armored Titan"

Optimus made the assumption that the Colossal and Armored Titan could break the wall. They were probably the ones that made the breach.

"Let's just hope we get that monster," the second guard continued, "So we can just kill him"

Optimus would have grimaced if he was in his bipedal mode. Kill him? From what he had gathered, no one knew that Eren could transform. The boy didn't know either. Even though it may not prove beneficial for him, considering the fact there are counterarguments, it could still help because someone could help Eren control that ability.

"But what about this thing?" the first guard asked, "how are they going to kill it? From what I heard 3D Maneuver Gear won't work on him, and it's sentient."

"Really?" the second soldier asked in surprise, "but it's not even a titan. It just looks like some weird caravan."

"I think the way it looks is proof enough for me." the first guard remarked.

Optimus mentally sighed. If he was going to be handed over to the Military Police, he might as well just leave the wall. They already pissed him off. If Ratchet were here he probably would've thrown something at them, despite his orders to not harm them.

'The Autobots,' Optimus thought. Were they alright? Did anything happen to them? There was no way he could get to them or Cybertron. He didn't even know where this planet was located. This world didn't even make electricity yet, so he couldn't do squat.

But why was he worried? The war was finally over, and his comrades would protect their home world with their lives. He knew that. He had complete faith in them.

But there was…

"Because I now know the true meaning of oppression, and have thus lost my taste for inflicting it."

Optimus wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe Megatron truly meant that, but deep down he couldn't. After eons of fighting, how could he really believe that? What if Megatron attacked Cybertron? What was he doing right now?

Another thing was bothering him as well. Why was he here? He was so caught up with everything that's happened in this world that he never had time to think. Why was he even here? He was suppose to be one with Primus. Did Primus send him here? Did he have a purpose here? Was it really not his time to be one with the Allspark?

Optimus mentally sighed. He knew his questions weren't going to be answered, probably never too. For now, he had to wait to see what would happen next.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------  
"Then I have made my decision. Eren Jaeger will be handed over Survey Corps." Zackley declared.

Armin sighed with relief. "Thank goodness."

Mikasa calmed down as she moved her hand from Armin's grip, glaring at Levi.

"Now we need to bring in the other titan," Zackley said.

Erwin looked up at the balcony. "Hanji is doing so as we speak."

Levi looked up to see Hanji no longer on the balcony while Mike looked around completely dazed before running after her.

He face palmed. "Great."  
\----------------------------------------------------------  
Hanji looked in awe as she hid behind a brick wall.

"There it is," she whispered to herself, "In all its glory, the metal titan. I can't wait to find out more about it."

Hanji moved from the wall and walked over to the titan while greeting the tow soldiers guarding him. She began to inspect the side before moving her hand to touch the door.

"Don't touch it! That thing could hurt you!" a soldier yelled.

Hanji didn't listen as she put her palm on the door.

"Wow, it really is made out of metal, and it feels warm." Hanji said to herself.

She then kneeled down to observe the wheels. "The wheels are also metal, but that black stuff looks weird, looks like rubber."

She then looked through the window and inside the vehicle. "Whoa, this looks so cool. It looks so weird and cool at the same time. The seats look comfy, too."

"Hanji, what are you doing?" Mike demanded as he walked up to her.

"I'm just looking." Hanji answered as she attempted to open the door. "It locks itself on the inside. Smart."

"Hanji!" Mike yelled.

"Mirrors to look behind you while moving." Hanji ignored Mike as she moved the mirrors from side to side. "Looks a lot easier than moving the neck. This titan's practically the ultimate weapon!"

Hanji squealed with excitement while the three sweat dropped. She stopped as she noticed something at the front of the titan. She walked over to it and kneeled down to looked like a face of some sort. She rubbed her thumb across the design.

"I wonder what this means," Hanji wondered.

"It is the symbol of a war faction from my home," a voice answered.

Hanji jumped and stumbled back while the two guards pointed their rifles at the vehicle.

Hanji immediately recovered and smiled. "You're a war veteran?!"

"Yes," the metal titan answrered.

"Awesome!" Hanji squealed.

"Hanji," Mike called out cautiously.

"Right, right, you're going to have your trial now." Hanji told the metal titan.

"Understood," he answered.

"Wait," the first guard cut off, "How are you going to bring him in the courtroom? He can't exactly fit through the doors."

"And if people saw a titan in the city, they would panic," the second guard added.

"Haven't thought about that," Hanji said to herself, "We could bring Zackley out here."

"While he's not restricted?!" the first guard practically screeched.

"Well, we can't exactly restrict him," Hanji retorted casually.

The four suddenly heard a fizzing noise and turned to see the sight before them. The two guard's mouths dropped, Mike's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head, and Hanji smiled like there was no tomorrow.  
\---------------------------------------------------------  
"Armin," Mikasa began, "how do you think the other trial will go?"

"I don't know," Armin whispered, "they can't fit Optimus in the courtroom. We may have to go outside."

Armin noticed Mikasa slightly glaring at Levi. "Mikasa, Eren's going to be fine. Just be thankful he's not being handed over to the Military Police."

Mikasa still glared at Levi.

The doors suddenly opened, causing Armin and Mikasa to look in surprise and confusion. They saw two people from the Military Police, but they also saw someone else.

It was a man in his mid-thirties with light skin. His dark hair almost covered his bright blue eyes. He also had a short beard. He wore a black shirt with a red jacket and fingerless gloves. Armin noticed that there was a symbol on the upper sleeve of the jacket that looked familiar. He also wore a pair of dark blue pants with brown boots.

The man looked over at Armin and Mikasa as he continued walking towards the center. Armin widened his eyes in shock while Mikasa looked in confusion.

'Those eyes, they're the same as,' Armin thought.

"It's Optimus." Armin whispered.

"What?" Mikasa questioned, "Armin that doesn't make any sense."

"I know it doesn't, but neither does the fact that he could change into some kind of weapon," Armin retorted, "It's him, I know it."

Optimus stood before the judge before looking at his surroundings. On his right he saw people who looked at him with worry, fear, and skepticism. He made a guess they were the conservatives.

One his left, he saw Erwin Smith and Levi. He also saw Commander Pixis, Armin, and Mikasa. He glanced back to see Eren kneeling down and chained his face bloody and battered. Eren slightly glared at him before Optimus turned away.

'I have to be careful,' Optimus thought, 'I do not know what happened, but I know that my fate isn't the only thing being decided.'

"Let us begin," the judge said, " I understand that you were first seen in the Battle of Trost. Is that correct?"

"Yes, your honor," Optimus answered.

"Do you understand why you're here?" the judged asked.

"I am aware that I will be handed over to one of the branches in your military." Optimus answered.

"You will be either handed over to either the Survey Corps or the Military Police." The judge explained before looking at each side, "Commander Nile, does your proposal remain the same?"

"Yes," the man known as Nile answered, "Dissection on the metal titan would prove beneficial for humanity. He is able to transform his body part, and it may help with the advancement of our weaponry."

"Commander Smith, does your proposal remain the same?" the judge asked Erwin.

"Yes, Zackley," Erwin answered, "We plan to take him to the outer wall and use him to help seal the breach in Wall Maria. That is all."

Optimus kept a blank expression, but he knew the man wasn't done. He knew, Erwin was waiting for the right moment to say his other proposals depending on what happened right now.

"Do you have any issues with that?" the judge known as Zackley asked.

"None, your honor," Optimus answered.

"I'm glad you're being cooperative," Zackley said, "Now, as I've said before, you were first seen in the Battle of Trost. It has never been recorded that a kind of titan like you has ever appeared in humanity's history. Would you care to explain who you are?"

"My name is Optimus Prime. I am an autonomous robotic organism from the plant Cybertron. To make things simpler, I am a sentient being from another world." Optimus explained.

That immediately caused whispers to go out through the courtroom. Optimus could hear words of surprise and disbelief.

"Another world?" Eren questioned in shock.

"How is that even possible?" Armin asked.

Levi looked over to see even Erwin in shock.

"Oluo owes me big," Hanji smirked to herself.

Optimus mentally smacked himself in the head. Gaining the humans' trust probably flew straight out of the water for him. But he had to tell them the truth. He had no reason to lie and he also knew little about this world.

"Are you telling me that there is life outside of this world?" Zackley asked.

"Yes, your honor," Optimus answered.

"Zackley," Nile began, "How do we know if he's telling the truth? He was reported to be a metal titan, but he is standing before us as a human."

"My actual form is outside the building," Optimus explained, "This is merely a holographic form, or a fake imagery if you will. The only reason I am using this form because I do not wish to cause chaos."

"Can you show us?" Zackley asked.

Optimus held out his arm before it began to shift. Everyone looked in shock and horror as the arm changed into a metallic arm.

'I knew it,' Armin thought.

"So cool," Hanji whispered.

"He's a demon!" a man with black robes and a golden necklace accused, "He's a demon who has tricked the divine wall, just like that monster!"

Optimus just gave the man a blank expression as his arm changed back. Judging by his attire, the man was probably part of a religion, but Optimus remembered people that were very connected to their religion. He was pretty sure Miko had a name for them. Oh yeah, religious freak.

"Pastor Nick," Zackley said before turning back to Optimus, "So your race is more advanced than our own?"

"Yes," Optimus answered, "My race has the ability to transform, create, and so on. We have even been able to travel beyond our world."

"But why are you here in our world?" Zackley asked, "if you already have a world of your own?"

"In all honesty, your honor, I did not mean to come here. I had no idea that a world like this existed," Optimus explained.

Optimus was technically telling the truth. He's seen a world full of humans, yes, but he's never heard of this kind of earth where the odds were definitely not in the human's favor.

"How do we know that you will not attack us?" Nile asked, "Or bring more of your race to our world?"

"I do not know where this planet is located, and I cannot contact my comrades. I also have no quarrel, malice, or reason to attack your kind." Optimus answered, "However, if my presence is unwelcome, or if I am handed over to the Military Police, I shall simply leave the wall in peace, and you will never have to see me again."

"And why would you say something like that?" Zackley asked.

"The Military Police want me dead out of their own fear," Optimus explained, "If I am handed over to the Survey Corps, I will aid them since their purpose is to fight for humanity. Either way, my purpose of fighting for humanity will not change."

"Why should we put our trust in you?!" Pastor Nick demanded, "You have already defiled our walls, our gods! What makes you so worthy of-"

"Your walls are not gods." Optimus calmly retorted.

"What?" Pastor Nick demanded.

Levi quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"A God is a being more power than a human or even myself," Optimus explained, "A God is a living being who suppose to be compassionate, kind, and loving his creation. What have your walls, your 'gods', done for you besides keep a barrier between you and those creatures, you call titans? Also, when I first arrived here, I saw a breach in your wall caused by the so-called Colossal and Armored Titan. And I'm going to make a guess that this has probably happened before. Your walls are not invincible, neither are they gods. It is simply a fortress created by your kind. So tell me, Pastor Nick, do you really think your walls are gods?"

Pastor Nick gritted his teeth as he glared at Optimus.

"The guts with this guy," Riko muttered.

Optimus still looked at Pastor Nick. He knew very well what a God was. He was practically chosen by the God of his world to carry the Matrix. He even fought the god of destruction and chaos. And the humans created these walls, so why would they consider them gods? He was going to have to find a way to look into this if he ever got the chance.

Zackley raised an eyebrow as he saw a symbol on Optimus' sleeve.

"What does the symbol on your sleeve represent?" Zackley asked.

Optimus looked to see the Autobot symbol on his sleeve. "It is the symbol of my faction during the war for my home world."

Mutters began to go across the room once again.

"He's a soldier?" Mikasa asked herself.

"It makes sense," Armin told her, remembering how Optimus killed the titans when they first met.

"You are a soldier?" Zackley asked.

"Yes, your honor," Optimus answered, "I was the leader of a group called the Autobots."

"Hm, is Armin Arlert here?" Zackley asked.

"Yes, that's me," Armin answered.

"You were the first soldier to see Optimus during Trost," Zackley began, "Did he ever show odd behavior?"

"No," Armin answered, "Optimus is very intelligent. He managed to stop Eren from hurting Mikasa. Also, his fighting skills are far more stronger than any elite soldier I've seen. He's even saved me from getting eaten twice."

"Is that so?" Zackley asked before looking back at Optimus, "Would you care to show us your fighting skills then?"

"I have no problem with that," Optimus answered.

"Wait," Nile began, "Do you really think it's safe to let him do this?"

"I don't see an issue with this," Levi spoke, "It was reported that he killed over a hundred titans, and possibly more. I want to see him in action."

'A hundred?' Eren thought.

"Nile, send three soldiers to fight him," Zackley instructed.

Nile was hesitant, but had to agree. Three soldiers from the Military Police walked towards Optimus and surrounded him while aiming their rifles.

Optimus just narrowed his eyes as he began to analyze them. There were two in front of him and one behind him. They all had eyes full of fear. Their stances were poor. He could even tell that one of the soldier's legs were shaking. They didn't even notice the slightest scuffle of his foot or the movement of his hands.

They were all fueled by their own fear. They were all bark and no bite, but if he showed all of his fighting skill it may cause more fear than necessary. He made a decision: he had to disarm them and knock them off of their feet.

"What's he doing?" Riko asked, "He's just standing there."

"He's analyzing them," Armin realized, "He's trying to find out who to attack first."

The world seemed to go in slow motion as Optimus began to move. Armin widened his eyes as Optimus kicked the rifle out of the hands of the soldier behind him. One of the soldiers in the front were prepared to fire, but Optimus ducked and kicked the soldier off of his feet. Optimus grabbed the rifle out of the soldier's hands before he hit the ground. Optimus then used the hilt of the rifle to knock the weapon from the last soldier. He caught the rifle before aiming both of them at the two soldiers that were still standing.

The whole courtroom was stunned at the sight before them.

"Whoa," Hanji breathed.

Eren looked in pure horror. This titan had more power and more skill than he ever did. He was probably even more skilled than Annie.

"Optimus wasn't even trying," Armin spoke, causing Mikasa to look at him in confusion.

"I could tell," Armin began, "Optimus was holding back by a lot. Also, if Optimus really was trying or not he could've killed Eren without any problem whatsoever.

However, the next action confused everyone. Optimus just lowered his arms before handing the rifles back to the two soldiers. Optimus then walked over to the soldier on the ground and held out his hand towards him.

The man reached his shaking hand out after what seemed to be an eternity. Optimus took his hand and pulled him up to his feet. He then picked up the rifle that was on the ground and gave it to the soldier.

"Like I have said before, I have no reason to attack your kind," Optimus stated, "however if the human race is being threatened, I will not hesitate to pull the trigger."

"Sir, I have a proposal," Erwin said as he raised his hand, "Since Optimus' origins or capabilities are rather a mystery and that he is also willing to cooperate, he may be willing to tell us about himself and his race."

"Are you willing to do that Optimus?" Zackley asked.

"I have no problem with sharing any information about my race," Optimus answered, "And depending on the resources here, I may be able to help you create new weapons to fight the titans without dissecting my body, if you are even capable of doing so,"

"Also," Erwin continued, "It was mentioned before that Optimus was able to restrain Eren in his titan form. If Eren was to lose control, Optimus may be able to stop Eren rampaging without killing him."

Eren immediately stiffened at that. That titan was going to watch him? Were they crazy?

"Before I make my decision, why do you want to help the human race so badly?" Zackley asked.

There was silence before Optimus spoke up, "Freedom is the right for all sentient beings."

Everyone widened their eyes in shock.

"I will help the humans win their war against the titans, even if it shall cost me my life. This I vow," Optimus said as he did their salute, "with all my spark."

Zackley was silent for a moment. "I've made my decision."

(Deleted scene)

Optimus tapped his fingers on his arm as he was walking towards the courtroom with the humans that came to get him earlier. The male was more cautious than before. The female; however, was a bit more bold.

Optimus closed his eyes as he felt the female poke his cheek. She repeated this process two more times, before touching the sleeve of the jacket. She then stopped before constantly and rapidly poking at his arm.

"Hanji," the male warned.

The female known as Hanji stopped before she began to mess with the holoform's hair.

"Ma'am," Optimus began.

"I'm sorry," Hanji apologized, "I forgot to introduce myself. I' m a Survey Corps squad leader, Hanji Zoe."

"Ms. Zoe," Optimus stated once again, "Even thought this is not my real form, my nervous system still works just the same. So can you please stop touching me?"

"Okay, I'm sorry," Hanji apologized before there was silence.

"One more poke?" Hanji asked.

Optimus sighed, "Fine."

Hanji poked Optimus once again before pumping her fists in the air.

Optimus could've sworn Hanji reminded him of a human. A girl with a exciting attitude and an interest in learning about the enemy or new thing in general.

Optimus widened his eyes. Hanji was a combination of Miko and Silas. Oh, he was so fragged.


	5. The Night before the Expedition

Eren looked in slight awe at the new location for the Survey Corps. The castle was pretty dirty but it was huge.  
He got off of his horse and tied the rope to the post so the horse wouldn't run off. He looked over to see Petra and Oluo bickering about biting tongues and pretending to be Levi. He also saw Eld and Gunther walking towards the castle. Eren wasn't really focused on that though.  
He was more focused on the fact that these guys, or Levi's squad. They were the best of the best and chosen by Levi himself, and were also the ones who could kill him if he ever goes on a rampage. But there was also….  
Eren looked over to see the red caravan come to a stop, before it shifted into the metal titan, or rather Optimus Prime. Optimus stood up fully before he began to stretch his arms.  
"I'm not going to get used to that," Eren heard Eld remark.  
Eren glanced back at Optimus before turning away. He really didn't trust him at all. He probably would've said because Optimus was a titan, but almost everyone else considered him a titan as well, even if he was born human.  
But it wasn't even Eren's fault that he was like this. Every time he tried to remember, he would end up having a huge headache. At the worst, he would pass out.  
And even if Optimus did help humanity, who knows when he'll turn on them. But after what he did in the courtroom, he was a little unsure.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------  
"Optimus Prime, you will be handed over to the Survey Corps," Zackley declared.  
"Understood, your honor," Optimus said.  
Eren widened his eyes as Optimus walked over to him, causing everyone to whisper in confusion. Eren looked over to see Optimus pull the metal rod that held him down.  
Eren didn't realize how weak he felt after Levi beat him up. He almost fell over, but Optimus caught him before he hit the floor.  
"Are you alright?" Optimus asked.  
Eren was about to answer, but he winced in pain. Optimus then carefully lifted Eren to his feet.  
"Hey, what are you doing?" the merchant demanded, "Why are you helping that monster?"  
"Monster or not, as far as I am concerned, he's not a threat. I simply see him as someone who needs medical attention." Optimus calmly told him.  
Eren widened his eyes in shock. Why was he helping him? They didn't know each other, yet the titan was helping him. Who was this guy?  
\-------------------------------------------------------------  
Eren wasn't really sure if he could trust him. No matter how many lives he saved, he really wasn't sure.  
Eren looked back at Optimus, only to find him looking down at him while stretching. Eren quickly turned around in embarrassment before Optimus could notice.  
Optimus quirked an eyebrow as he noticed Eren turning away. Optimus mentally sighed. Knowing from past experiences, it would take a while for the humans to trust him, especially ones in the military since they were more cautious. But he noticed that everyone was high-strung and on alert, even if they didn't like it.  
Looks like it was back to square one.  
"Look at all the weeds," Eld observed, "What a mess,"  
"It hasn't been used for years," Gunther reminded, "Inside is probably covered in dust."  
"That's a serious problem. We'll begin immediately," Levi proclaimed.  
Optimus was confused. Begin what?  
\----------------------------------------------  
Optimus slightly deadpanned. He really did not expect cleaning. He understood the conditions of the building would not be suitable for a human to live in, but Levi was taking this very seriously.  
While the rest of the humans were responsible for the inside and the windows, he was responsible for moving heavy objects, and for some reason, taking the vines off of the walls.  
From fighting to cleaning, it was weird, but he preferred this better than fighting. But this place, the Survey Corps, was rather odd. There was an ambiguous Commander, a man who bites his tongues at odd times, a clean freak, a titan shifter, and the Miko-Silas combo.  
Optimus mentally sighed. It's like you have to be crazy to survive this world. But if this was the way to gain their trust, he might as well just comply to this.  
Optimus looked over at a window to see someone quickly hide behind it. Optimus kept a blank expression. If Eren was trying to observe him without getting caught, he needs to do a better job at it.  
Optimus heard a yelp as he saw the man Eld slip and almost fall off the roof, but he caught him in his servos.  
"Are you alright?" Optimus asked as he slowly set him on the ground.  
"Yeah," Eld answered rather awkwardly as he got off of his servos, "Thanks for the save."  
"Hey lovebirds," Levi called out through a window, "Get back to cleaning."  
Optimus sighed before walking to the side of the castle. This was going to be a long day.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Erwin, do you really think it's wise to talk about our strategies to him?" Mike asked as the two walked down the hall.  
"So far I don't see the problem," Erwin answered, "He was a commanding officer. It could beneficial if his experiences help us in our missions."  
"But he could use that against us," Mike retorted.  
"With or without it, Optimus can destroy humanity with what he already has," Erwin explained, "but he said that he has no reason to attack humankind."  
"I'm still unsure about it," Mike said, "Even though there isn't any malice from him."  
"Then you shouldn't have much to worry about," Erwin reassured.  
"And that's what scares me," Mike admitted.  
The two arrived outside of the castle to see Optimus carrying logs of woods and stacking them.  
"Optimus," Erwin called out.  
Optimus stopped and looked down to see Erwin and Mike looking at him.  
"Commander Erwin," Optimus greeted.  
"You mentioned before that you didn't know much about our world," Erwin recalled.  
"That is correct," Optimus answered.  
"I would like to discuss with you more about humankind's history. And with your military experience, you could help us with strategies on receiving checkpoints and reclaiming Wall Maria," Erwin explained.  
Optimus was silent for a moment before he transformed into his alt mode. Erwin slightly widened his eyes while Mike kept a neutral expression as Optimus' holoform appeared.  
"Where do we begin?" Optimus asked.  
\---------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus watched as Erwin opened a door to a form of office. Optimus looked around to see books stacked against shelves. There was sunlight from the window shining down on an armor suit that was in a corner. He noticed a desk in the middle of the room that had a sketch of some sort of formation.  
"The sketch," Optimus began.  
"It's a formation we use when scouting in Wall Maria," Erwin explained as he walked over to the chair and sat down. "We use this to avoid titans so there would be less casualties, but the casualties are always an average of thirty percent."  
"The titans, what are they exactly?" Optimus asked.  
"We're unsure. It was said over a century ago that they appeared, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. The surviving humans built three walls: Maria, Rose, and Sina. Humanity has endured a century of peace until the Colossal and Armored titan broke through Wall Maria." Erwin explained, "We've lost Wall Maria to the titans, and we've been trying to regain it by sealing the breach, but we haven't made it that far. And after Eren sealed the breach in Trost, the route that's been made for the past five years has gone to waste."  
"So if you can reach the wall and seal the breach, then you shall regain the territory you have lost," Optimus assumed.  
Erwin nodded his head. "I want to know if there are any changes that need to be made."  
Optimus looked at the paper and studied the formation. "There is no flaw within the formation. I feel as though the only issue is technology. Your race does not have weapons that can easily kill the titans. If you had advance technology on you missions, there would be less casualties."  
"I see," Erwin said, "You mentioned in the courtroom that you would help us create more weapons."  
"It depends on the resources here," Optimus retorted as he picked up a book from the shelf, "however, I am concerned whether or not the weaponry falls into the wrong hands. I do not wish for a civil war to happen amongst your kind."  
"We're going to have to be careful with technology then," Erwin assumed.  
Optimus nodded his head.  
"Erwin, when are we going on our next expedition?" Mike asked.  
"In thirty days," Erwin answered.  
"Isn't that too sudden?" Mike asked.  
"Maybe, but we need to prove that Eren and Optimus are helpful to humanity," Erwin explained, "If we don't the Police will-"  
"You are an ambiguous man, Commander Erwin," Optimus cut off without looking up from the book, "but it's not hard to see through your lie."  
Erwin looked at Optimus in shock while Mike kept a neutral expression.  
"He's right," Mike agreed, "Don't try and use that trick."  
Erwin smirked. "You two are very sharp."  
"I was never deluded in the art of deception," Optimus explained as he put the book back, but what are you truly aiming for in your expedition?"  
"I'll tell you both when the time comes," Erwin answered.  
Optimus heard a zapping noise and looked at the holoform's hand to see it losing shape.  
"It would seem I need to disperse my holoform." Optimus observed.  
"That thin has a limit," Mike asked in surprise.  
Optimus nodded his head before looking at Erwin. "I will speak with you another time, Commander."  
"I look forward to it," Erwin said.  
Optimus turned away before the holoform dispersed into blue sparks.  
"I'm not going to get used to that," Mike admitted.  
"Neither am I," Erwin agreed, "but we still gained a valuable ally to humanity."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus looked up at the starry night while all the other humans remained inside the castle.  
There was one thing Optimus did enjoy about Earth, and it was the stars. Just looking at them reminded him of Cybertron during the Golden Age.  
'Cybertron,' Optimus thought before shaking his helm. The Autobots were fine. They were fine. He didn't have anything to worry about, even if he did feel 'homesick' as the humans would call it.  
He really did miss Cybertron, and even when they got it back, he had to sacrifice himself so that new life could emerge on Cybertron. He was going to sound selfish, but all he wanted was to live out his remaining life in peace.  
But it didn't matter now, the humans need his help and he will sacrifice his life so that they can be free. If Primus did send him here, he completely understood why.  
Optimus was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a grumbling noise from his stomach.  
'I have not had energon,' Optimus realized. He looked through his data and saw that he had enough energon to last him a while, but he still had to find more.  
He ran a scan throughout the area and found that there was a decent amount of energon pockets nearby. How he was able to detect energon without a tracker was probably because of Primus.  
But he probably couldn't leave the area unsupervised. He would have to go with someone, and the only person that would want to go would be-  
"Hi, Optimus!" a voice called out.  
The Survey Corps Squad Leader Hanji Zoe.  
Optimus turned around to see Hanji waving at him while holding a flame torch in her hand.   
"Wow, your eyes can glow in the dark," Hanji observed.  
"I see that you are back from your experimentation," Optimus remarked. Optimus remembered hearing that Hanji as experimenting on two titans that were captured in Trost.  
"Yep! I would love to stay and chat, but I need to speak with Eren about tomorrow's experiments. Do you know where he's at?" Hanji asked.  
"Inside the castle," Optimus answered.  
"Thanks. Titan, here I come!" Hanji yelled with excitement as she ran inside.  
Optimus groaned quietly. If titans weren't going to be the death of him this woman would be.  
\-------------------------------------------  
"She?" Eren questioned.  
They all heard a yell as someone slammed into the door. Petra walked over and opened the door to reveal Hanji rubbing her head.  
Well then, hey, squad Levi," Hanji greeted as she recovered and waved.  
"I thought you were experimenting with the titans, or would be tinkering with Optimus," Levi remarked casually.  
"I just couldn't wait, and I barely had any time to talk to Eren," Hanji explained as she walked over to Eren, "I came to talk to you about joining me with experiments tomorrow.  
"But what are you going to-"  
"Something so cool!" Hanji cut off with excitement, "So I came to ask permission."  
"I can't exactly grant permission to myself." Eren explained.  
"Levi, what's Eren doing tomorrow?" Hanji asked.  
"Cleaning the courtyard," Levi answered.  
"Alright then," Hanji smiled before holding Eren's hand, "Eren, see you tomorrow."  
"But what exactly are we going to experiment-"  
"Hm?"  
Eren slightly raised his voice in confusion at her action. "What exactly are we going to experiment on?"  
"Hey, stop!" Oluo warned, "Don't ask her something like that."  
"Ah, I knew it. I knew you looked interested to learn," Hanji smiled.  
Levi put his cup on the table before getting up and walking out of the room while everyone else followed the suite.  
"Well then, let me tell you about the two boys we caught," Hanji began as she sat down.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus heard the doors open and looked down to see the woman Petra walk outside with a torch.  
"What are you doing up this late?" Optimus asked, "Shouldn't you be asleep at this time?"  
"I was just going to check up on the horses." Petra answered rather awkwardly, "Don't you think you should sleep too?"  
"I could not sleep," Optimus admitted, "What about your comrades?"   
"They went to sleep," Petra answered, "except for Eren."  
"Where is Eren?" Optimus asked.  
"With Hanji," Petra answered.  
Optimus kept a blank expression as there was silence.  
"I am compelled if I should help him or not," Optimus admitted.  
"Unless you want to be kept up for the rest of the night," Petra said before walking away.  
Optimus looked over at the castle and sighed. May Primus bless his soul.  
\-------------------------------------------------------  
Eren stared off into space as the circles under his eyes got darker. He could still hear Hanji actively talking about the titans.  
When they started the conversation, Eren was really interested in learning about the titans, or Sawney and Bean. But as they continued the conversation, Eren grew tedious by the minute while Hanji just chronically talking. He didn’t know how long he could last.  
"Did you get that Eren?" Hanji asked.  
"Yeah," Eren answered.  
"Now, I'm going to put my theory." Hanji said.  
The doors suddenly opened to reveal a soldier run in.  
"Is Hanji Zoe here?" the soldier asked frantically.  
"What's wrong?" Hanji asked.  
"The test subjects have been killed," the soldier answered.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus couldn't believe it. He really couldn't believe it. After he woke up from his recharge while in his alt mode, he decided out of curiosity to see Eren was doing with Hanji.  
Hanji wasn't even tired. Her life signature was totally fine as she continued to talk about who knows what. Eren was barely surviving. Her life signature was fading and Eren was getting ready to sleep. He was surprise that Eren was even able to last this long. What were they even talking about?  
He suddenly picked up footsteps as he saw Hanji, Eren, and other soldiers running towards their horses. They all just got on and rod towards the town.  
If Optimus was in his bipedal mode, he would've slightly raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was going on?  
\--------------------------------------------------------  
"Sawney! Bean!" Hanji cried as she saw the disintegrating corpses of the captured titans.  
"Who was it?" Gunther asked.  
"We weren't able to find out who. The soldiers reported that the person fled using 3D Maneuver Gear." Eld explained.  
"So it was a soldier then?" Gunther asked.  
"Look at Hanji," Oluo smirked as he saw Hanji screaming and crying, "she's going insane."  
Petra growled before elbowing Oluo.  
Eren just widened his eyes. Who would do this? Those titans were one of the only things that could've helped humanity. Did they do it out of revenge?  
Eren snapped out of his thoughts as he felt Erwin's hands on his shoulders.  
"Who do you think it is? Who do you think the enemy it is?" Erwin asked.  
Eren looked in confusion. What did he mean by that?  
"Never mind. Forget I said anything," Erwin told him before walking away.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------  
"So the two experiments are now deceased?" Optimus asked Petra as he was carrying a large object.  
"Yeah," Petra answered solemnly, "I still don't understand why though. The only reason that would make sense would be out of revenge,"  
"Revenge is a powerful thing and can consume others emotions," Optimus agreed as he put the object down.  
"But for some reason, Erwin's been asking a really weird question," Petra began.  
Optimus looked at Petra before he kneeled down towards her. "What did he ask you?"  
"He asked 'Who do you think the enemy is?'" Petra answered.  
Optimus' optics barely widened. He knew that if he showed some reaction and she caught it, she would want an answer. And judging by Erwin's ambiguous personality, he was only tell his plans to the people who answered the question right.  
"Did he ask you anything else?" Optimus asked.  
Petra shook her head.  
"I see," Optimus began before he stood up, "Thank you for informing me of this."  
Your welcome," Petra said.  
Petra raised an eyebrow in confusion as she saw Optimus walk away. Where was he going?  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Erwin continued to write down the plan for the expedition when he suddenly heard a knock on his door.  
"The door's open," Erwin informed.  
Erwin looked in slight surprise to see Optimus in his holoform, opening the door.  
"We need to talk," Optimus declared.  
"I'm making plans for the next mission," Erwin explained as he continued writing, "I need to continue without any-"   
"The enemy is a spy who knows the secrets of the titans. The enemy is after Eren Jaeger, since he now possesses the powers of a titan. And I am going to make a guess that the enemy is a titan shifter." Optimus interrupted.  
Erwin widened his eyes in shock before he smiled. "I'm guessing you've been trained very well."  
"Commander, why are you keeping this claim to yourself?" Optimus asked.  
"Because if I tell all of the Survey Corps, the information may end up going to the spy, and the spy will be more prepared. That's why I'm telling people who answer the question." Erwin explained.  
"Do you even have any proof for your claim?" Optimus asked.  
"No," Erwin answered, "but that is what the next expedition is for. During that mission we will attempt to capture the spy."  
"This is very dangerous," Optimus said, "One wrong move and there will be more casualties than necessary. More than your thirty percent average,"  
"I know that," Erwin calmly admitted.  
"Then why are you doing this?" Optimus demanded.  
"Optimus, we don't have any of the advanced technology that you have that would help reduce the casualties or help humanity out of it dire situation. I do hate sacrificing the lives of my comrades, but if it's for the sake of humanity, I will do it." Erwin proclaimed.  
Optimus slightly glared at Erwin. This man was mad. Did he not see the bodies in Trost or whenever he was on their expedition? Wouldn't he want to prevent that?  
Optimus sighed. "I cannot do anything to change your mind, nor can I change anything about the plan since I am not part of this chain-of-command and I will probably never be allowed to because of your government. But let me give you a fair warning: this is a very dangerous gamble."  
"And I am willing to take that gamble," Erwin said.  
Optimus just turned away before his holoform dispersed into sparks.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus sat down as he pondered over Erwin's plans. Was he really willing to sacrifice his comrades? He really couldn't believe that. Even though they wanted to help humanity, Erwin's way seemed a bit insane.  
But he guess it couldn't be helped. If you keep a bird caged in for too long it will go insane, and try to find a way to get out.  
He suddenly heard crying off in the distance and decided to walk over to the source. He raised an eyebrow in confusion as he saw Hanji crying to herself. She was sitting on the grass with her knees tucked into her chest.  
"Ms. Zoe," Optimus called out.  
Hanji looked up at Optimus, not even bothering to wipe the tears from her face. "Oh, hi Optimus."  
"Why are you crying?" Optimus asked, "Did something happen?"  
Hanji stopped for a moment before more tears began pouring down her face.  
"Sawney! Bean!" Hanji cried.  
Optimus slightly cringed at her outburst. He forgot. Petra told him when the two experiments were killed, Hanji was, in human terms, "freaking out." She must be still upset about it, but Primus, why did she have to be so loud?  
Optimus then remembered something. Hanji wanted to know more about his race, and he did detect energon nearby. Maybe taking her there would help with her research, and to make her feel better.  
But there was also something in the back of his mind telling him not to do it and that she will dismantle you with her bare hands. Another part of him was telling him he needed the energon, so "suck it up."  
He was going to regret this completely.  
"Ms. Zoe, would you like to know more about my race?" Optimus asked as he kneeled down.  
Hanji looked in confusion as she stopped crying.  
"You would probably want to know what my race consumes for energy and life," Optimus explained, "I have detected an energon mine not too far from here, but I am probably not allowed to go by myself. Since you are interested in learning about my race, would you like to accompany me?"  
Optimus had to slightly force out the last part, but luckily went unnoticed. Hanji widened her eyes as they somehow began to sparkle.  
"Really?" Hanji asked.  
"Yes," Optimus slightly forced out.  
"Thank you!" Hanji smiled as she jumped to her feet, "but let me go get my horse and-"  
"That will not be necessary," Optimus interrupted.  
Hanji raised an eyebrow in confusion before widening her eyes in excitement as she saw Optimus transform in his alt mode and opened the door.  
"My vehicle mode is meant for travel. We will be able to travel to the location quicker," Optimus explained, "You also mentioned that my seats looked comfortable."  
"Are they?" Hanji asked.  
"I will let you be the judge about that," Optimus answered.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------  
Eren was cleaning the hallway that was near a couple of bedrooms in the castle. Eren stopped and almost fell asleep, but immediately woke up as he almost fell over. He then shook his head and continued cleaning.  
After everything that happened today, Eren forgot that he didn't get sleep from last night because of Hanji. He was just hoping he didn't fall asleep while Levi walked by. He really didn't want to get hit with a broom.  
"Are you tired Eren?" Petra asked as she walked out of a room.  
Eren jumped in surprise before rubbing his eye.  
"Yeah, I stayed up the whole night with Hanji," Eren answered, "I wasn't able to get sleep after everything that happened. Hanji's probably still upset about it."  
"Actually she's not anymore," Petra told him, "I saw her go with Optimus somewhere."  
As if on cue, they both heard Hanji scream with excitement followed by a strange noise.  
"Isn't that dangerous? Do you know where they're even going?" Eren asked.  
"No," Petra answered, "but knowing Hanji she'll probably experiment on Optimus."  
There was silence as Petra began to wipe an old armor statue.  
"What do you think of him?" Eren asked.  
Petra stopped wiping the armor and looked at Eren in confusion. "Who's him?"  
"Optimus," Eren clarified, "What do you think of him?"  
"Well," Petra pondered a little, "he seems rather nice."  
"Nice?" Eren questioned, "he doesn't seem like it."  
"If you talk to him he seems pretty gentle," Petra explained, "but he reminds me of Levi."  
"Levi?" Eren asked, "I don't know if Optimus likes to clean."  
Petra began laughing. "Not like that. I mean they keep a strong façade."  
"Façade?" Eren asked.  
"Yeah," Petra answered, "They both have blank expressions and don't show much emotion. I know we just met Optimus, but that's what it seems like. But he also seems lonely,"  
"How can someone like him be lonely?" Eren asked in confusion.  
"Well he can't go back to his home or see his friends so he's probably upset," Petra explained, "That's another reason Optimus is like Levi. They don't seem to tell anything personal and keep things to themselves."  
"Do you know what Levi thinks of him?" Eren asked.  
"Levi thinks he's suspicious and that the way he speaks is annoying," Petra answered, "Erwin's actually taking a liking to him."  
"But what if he turns on us?" Eren asked, "What if he just decides to attack us?"  
Petra shrugged. "So far all he's done is help humanity. He hasn't done anything wrong. I guess we have to wait to see what happens."  
\------------------------------------------------------------------  
"These seats really are comfy!" Hanji smiled as Optimus drove towards their destination.  
"I am glad you are comfortable." Optimus said through the radio.  
Hanji looked at the steering wheel to see the Autobots insignia in the center.  
"That symbol of yours is here," Hanji observed.   
"In my alt mode, the symbol appears on the steering wheeling and on the front. When in my bipedal mode the symbol appears on my upper arms," Optimus explained.  
Hanji pressed on the symbol slightly, causing a sound to emit from the wheel. Hanji yelped and quickly moved her hands from the wheel.  
"What was that?!" Hanji yelled.  
"It is simply used to tell drivers to move, since they are unable to leave the vehicle unattended," Optimus explained, "however, people have a tendency of abusing that."  
"Well all this stuff is new to me," Hanji remarked as she looked around, "If there was more like you or stuff like this we could've taken down the titans in a day."  
Hanji looked over to see a button under a small screen. She slowly moved her finger and pressed the button, causing a screeching noise to come from it. Hanji covered her ears and winced at the sound before Optimus turned it off.  
"That hurts," Hanji complained.  
"It's called a radio, and it's used to listen to news and entertainment," Optimus explained, "The only reason it made that noise is because there is no satellite which helps create a signal."  
"So if there's a signal, or whatever you call it, news can be passed around quicker?" Hanji asked.  
"Yes," Optimus answered.  
"Amazing!" Hanji smiled.  
"However, I do advise you not to touch anything else," Optimus said.  
"As much fun this is, I won't so I won't burst my ears," Hanji said.  
Optimus mentally sighed. Note to self: do not let Hanji in his vehicle mode ever again.  
Hanji then noticed weird circles behind the steering wheel. One of them had a red handle, like a clock, pointing at what looked like a numbers.  
"I do not understand. Can you clarify?" Optimus asked.  
"There are these circles with numbers on them," Hanji explained, "And sometimes the red handle moves little."  
"It is a speedometer," Optimus answered, "It determines how fast I can drive when in this form. For example, your horses run at an average of fifty miles an hour. I can go up to 120 miles an hour."  
"Your faster than our horses?" Hanji asked with excitement, "Can we see how fast you can go?"  
"I'm afraid that will be for another time. We are at our destination," Optimus informed.  
Optimus opened the door and unbuckled Hanji's seatbelt before she jumped out. Hanji looked in awe at the large cave while Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode.  
"This cave is giving off a strong signal," Optimus observed as he walked towards the cave with Hanji following him.  
Hanji looked in confusion as Optimus held out his hand towards her.  
"I do not know how deep this cave is and I do not wish for you to get lost," Optimus explained.  
Hanji smiled before jumping into Optimus' hand. Optimus carefully lifted Hanji to his shoulder before turning on his head lights and walked in the cave.  
"You’re a kind soul," Hanji complimented.  
"Thank you," Optimus said.  
"So what's the food you guys eat called?" Hanji asked.  
"It is called energon," Optimus answered, "It is my race's lifeforce and can be used for anything."   
"Really?" Hanji asked.  
"Yes," Optimus answered, "even the ammo in my guns are energon."  
"Is that why your eyes are blue?" Hanji asked.  
"That is mostly the reason." Optimus answerred.  
"But why would this energon be on our world?" Hanji asked in confusion, "Shouldn't it be on yours?"  
"During the war for my planet, many began hiding their energon spoils off-world," Optimus explained, "That is why energon pockets such as this one exist on this planet."  
"Jeez, you guys can do anything," Hanji remarked.  
"Not everything," Optimus said, "And we are here."  
Hanji looked over and widened her eyes at the sight before her. The cave was illuminated by the glowing blue crystals hat were on the floor, wall and ceiling. She smiled as Optimus slowly put her down onto the ground. Hanji jumped out of his hand and looked around.  
"This is awesome!" Hanji yelled in excitement, "It looks so pretty."  
She looked at her reflection in the crystal and reached her hand out to touch it.  
"I advise you not to touch the energon," Optimus informed, "Energon is toxic to anything organic, including humans."  
Hanji looked at the energon and back at him. "So is energon toxic to titans?"  
"Yes," Optimus answered, "When I fired at the titans they were unable to regenerate. The energon was destroying their body parts."  
Optimus widened his optics to see Hanji chuckling darkly and still reaching out to grab the energon. Optimus sighed before picking Hanji up by her jacket and bringing her up to optic level.  
"Ms. Zoe, energon is a very dnagerous substance to be around. I do not wish for you to get hurt." Optimus explained.  
Hanji pouted a little before she agreed. Optimus then slowly set her down before Hanji crossed her arms. Hanji widened her eyes as Optimus transformed into his alt mode and made a large box with the Autobot symbol appear. Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode and began to put energon in the box.  
"I didn't know you had a box," Hanji remarked.  
"My vehicle mode is also designed for transportation," Optimus explained, "It is an advanced version of your caravans."  
"So the energon, are there different kinds or are they all just naturally blue?" Hanji asked.  
"There is red energon, which has the ability to make you run faster than the average Cybertronian," Optimus explained, "There is a green energon called "Tox-en" which can drain the life-force and kill a Cybertronian. An old friend of mine had perfected a synthetic energon, which works like normal energon. And there is also dark energon,"  
"Dark energon?" Hanji raised an eyebrow in curiosity.  
"It is the most dangerous form, and should never be tampered with." Optimus said as he transformed his servo into a blade and cut a chunk of energon in half, "It has the ability to kill; however, it also has the power to bring back the dead."  
Hanji's mouth dropped. "The dead?"  
Optimus nodded his head. "But the being brought back will not be conscious. It will simply be a mindless creature."  
"So it's like a titan?" Hanji compared.  
"In a sense," Optimus answered, "Dark energon is also known to be the life-force of Unicron: the chaos bringer."  
"Unicorn?" Hanji asked in confusion.  
"Unicron," Optimus corrected, "He's been known to destroy planet and take millions of lives. You may consider him the 'devil' of my world. The only one who was able to stand against him was Primus: the life giver of my planet."  
"So Primus is the same as God?" Hanji pondered, "That's why you were criticizing Pastor Nick in the courtroom! You actually have a God while the Wallists worship objects."  
"Yes," Optimus said, "I know what a God is and I have proof for my statement, and close encounters. Pastor Nick simply worshipped the walls because it protected humanity. Either Pastor Nick is desperate, or there is more to the cult that meets the eye."  
"I think he's desperate," Hanji shrugged off, "Wait, what do you mean 'close encounters?'"  
"I fought Unicron," Optimus clarified.  
"You fought a God?" Hanji asked in shock, "How were you even able to do that?"  
"Unicron's true form is energy, and he is able to manifest anything. Meaning he was able to take on different forms," Optimus explained, "I fought rock forms of him, him in his purest form, and when he manifested a dead body that had dark energon flowing through it."  
Megatron was a sensitive topic for Optimus, and he preferred not saying anything about him. If he were to even breathe his name, Hanji would bombard him with questions.  
"Can you tell me more about it?" Hanji asked.  
"I'm afraid answers will have to wait," Optimus answered, "I have enough energon to last for a while and I need to take you back to the castle."  
Hanji groaned. "Please?"  
"Ms. Zoe we must go," Optimus said.  
"Okay," Hanji gave in as she walked over to Optimus. Optimus transformed into his alt mode so Hanji could sit inside.  
Optimus then drove out of the cave with his cargo of energon.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
"The sun's already setting," Hanji remarked as Optimus arrived at the castle, "I can't believe we were out that long."  
Optimus opened his door and Hanji jumped out before Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode.  
"I assume you had a great time, Ms. Zoe," Optimus said.  
"I did. I feel a lot better. Thank you," Hanji smiled.  
"You're welcome," Optimus said.  
"Now Hanji began, "I have to record the data you gave me. Tomorrow I'll experiment with Eren and I'll need your assistance incase Eren goes on any rampages. See you tomorrow."  
Hanji waved at Optimus before running to the castle. Optimus then opened the cargo box before pulling out a piece of energon. He could finally get rid of the grumbling in his system.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Eren stared at the ceiling as a small lamp lit up his room. After night time came, Eren decided to head to his room and try to sleep.  
Unfortunately, Eren was unable to sleep and was just staring as ceiling for past hour. He had Hanji to blame for that.  
Eren sighed before getting up from his bed. Maybe walking around would help him sleep.  
Eren opened the door to his room and walked through the hallways, being careful to step lightly when walking near any doors. If someone saw him walking around the halls, they probably would've thought he was up to something. He still wasn't fond of the beating Levi gave him in the courtroom.  
After walking around for a while, he found himself at the front doors of the castle.  
'Maybe fresh air will help,' Eren thought.  
Eren slowly pushed the door open and walked outside. He looked over and widened his eyes as he saw Optimus in his bipedal mode looking at the stars.  
Eren covered his mouth at backed away slowly from his sight. You think he'd be asleep by now.  
"I know you're there," Optimus said without looking behind him.  
Eren looked in surprise as he walked out of his hiding spot. "How did you know?"  
"I heard the doors open," Optimus answered nonchalantly.  
Eren slightly deadpanned.  
"I am rather surprised that you are not tired after staying up last night with Ms. Zoe." Optimus admitted.  
"I am, too. Wait, how do you know that?" Eren asked.  
"I detected your life signature out of curiosity," Optimus explained, "You were trying your best to stay awake while Ms. Zoe was not even tired."  
"So are you going to send me back to my room?" Eren asked.  
"No."  
"Huh?"  
"I see no point in forcing someone to sleep when cannot," Optimus explained, "but since we are both awake, would you like to watch the stars with me?"  
"I guess," Eren answered.  
Optimus turned and held out his hand towards Eren, causing him to step back.  
"I will not harm you," Optimus reassured, "You have my word."  
Eren was still unsure, but e simply complied as he sat in the hand. Eren waited for the hand to crush him and kill him, but nothing happen. Optimus just put Eren on his shoulder.  
"The view looks better from up here," Eren remarked.  
"It reminds me of when I would look at the stars from my home," Optimus said.  
Eren looked over at Optimus. "Do you miss your home?"  
Optimus was quiet for a moment. "Yes, I do."  
"Didn't you say that you were in a war?" Eren recalled.  
"The war for my home is over and the Autobots have won. I thought I would be able to live my life in peace, but it seems I am needed here," Optimus answered.  
"How did you even end up here, in our world?" Eren asked.  
"It is rather complicated. Even I am confused on how I arrived here," Optimus answered.  
Optimus wasn't lying. He knew Primus had something to deal with him being here, but he didn't know how Primus sent him here.  
"I do not know where this planet is located and I cannot contact my comrades." Eren remembered Optimus saying.  
"Are you…stranded here?" Eren asked hesitantly.  
"I have no way of reaching my home," Optimus answered.  
Eren looked away from Optimus. "I'm sorry. I'm guessing it's a pretty sensitive topic."  
"It is alright," Optimus reassured, "You had no way of knowing."  
Eren nodded his head before there was a rather awkward silence between them.  
"Eren. may I ask you a question?" Optimus asked.  
"Sure," Eren answered.  
"Why are you so persistent on killing titans?" Optimus asked, "I know it is not my place to pry, but when Armin was trying to regain your conscious, he mentioned about vengeance and the outside world. If you do not wish to speak of it, then that is fine."  
Eren remained silent as Optimus noticed a dark look in his eyes.  
"They took my mom," Eren said, "They took my mom and I want them dead."  
Optimus mentally sighed. "Revenge will not bring back those you have lost."  
"I know that," Eren said.  
Optimus widened his optics in surprise.  
"Even if I do kill them all, I know she won't come back. And I was an idiot for spending the last time with her fighting." Eren vented, "And now she's gone forever. The titans took away everything. Our hopes, our dreams, we can't even leave the walls and see the outside world."  
"You are unable to leave the wall?" Optimus asked.  
"Yes," Eren answered, "Anything about the outside world is considered taboo. The only way I was able to find out more about it was through Armin's book. Salt water that takes up most of the world, flaming waters, frozen earth, anyone who saw that would be the freest person ever."  
Optimus looked up to the sky. "Armin is not wrong. The water takes up three-fourths of this planet. Flaming water, I am not so sure about, unless he is talking about lava. Frozen earth may be referring to the polar caps of this world."  
Eren looked Optimus in shock. "You…you know?"  
Optimus looked at Eren in confusion. "Hm?"  
"You know about the outside world?!" Eren demanded.  
Eren yelped as his foot slipped and he fell off of Optimus' shoulder. Optimus quickly caught Eren and looked at him with worry.  
"Eren you need to be more careful," Optimus scolded.  
"Tell me!" Eren demanded as he sat up, "Tell me about the outside world!"  
Optimus was rather confused. At first he had one darkest looks he's ever seen, and now his eyes were full of interest and wonder.  
"All right," Optimus said as he put Eren on his shoulder, "Since your world is similar to one that I have seen, this is what your world should look like."  
Optimus used his optics to create a holographic map of Earth.  
"That's what our world looks like?" Eren asked.  
"Yes," Optimus answered, "And judging by the races I have seen so far, the location of your walls should be around this area."  
Optimus zoomed in on the continent 'Europe' and pinpointed on the area that should've been the country Germany.  
"That's how much space we're taking?" Eren asked in surprise, "It's so small…that's what the titan's took from us?"  
"I am sorry to say, but yes," Optimus answered.  
"Wait, you said you knew nothing about us. How did you even know what our world even looked like in the first place?" Eren asked in confusion.  
"This world is similar to another one that I have been to," Optimus explained, "so I assume the form of this world is still the same. The other world that I have been to has humans; however, they do not live in fear of the titans."  
"You mean…there's another world where humanity is free?" Eren asked.  
Optimus noticed the look in Eren's eyes and decided to change the topic. "Would you like to know more about the animals or scenery?"  
"Eh? Don't they all look the same?" Eren asked in confusion.  
"The planet has different climates and weather, meaning they'll have different kinds of animals to survive in that certain region," Optimus explained.  
"Let's start with scenery," Eren suggested.  
Optimus nodded his head before showing him a holographic form of the beach.  
"It is called a beach," Optimus explained, "It lies among the coastal regions of the continents of this world. I have also heard that it is most beautiful when the sun sets."  
"How can it look better than what it is now?" Eren asked.  
Optimus showed Eren what it would look like during the sunset, and Eren widened his eyes. The sky was filled with so many colors at once, while the water glistened beautifully.  
"It's amazing," Eren smiled.  
Optimus smiled at Eren's expression before changing the scene to a rainforest.  
"The trees look different!" Eren observed.  
"This is called a rainforest. The trees are designed for warm weather. The trees in the walls are mainly designed for winter weather," Optimus explained, "And since it rains occasionally, the trees grow larger and expand."  
"I didn't know trees could look like that," Eren remarked.  
Optimus then showed Eren the desert.  
"What is that?" Eren asked in wonder, "Is that sand?"  
"Yes," Optimus answered, "The sand can form in deserts; however, there are not that many resources there, and majority of the time there is no life."  
Eren looked in confusion as he saw an animal slither across the sand. "I thought you said-"  
"Majority of the time," Optimus said.  
Eren smiled. There's so much. There's so much in the outside world, better than these cramped wall.  
Optimus showed Eren the African Savannah with wildebeests running around in their herd. Eren looked in awe as he saw the strange animals all together. He then also noticed an animal with a long neck eating from a tree.  
"What is that?" Eren asked.  
"It is called a giraffe," Optimus answered, "Their spines are eight times larger than that of a human. They're mainly designed to eat food from tall trees."  
"They don't eat humans?" Eren asked.  
"No, giraffes a herbivores, meaning they only eat plants, "Optimus explained.  
Eren looked closely at the scene and noticed something in the grass. There were small things following it as it made its way towards the beast. Eren was about to ask what it was, but widened his eyes as he saw an animal that looked similar to a cat running towards the herd. The beasts began running away as the cat chased them. The cat managed to jump onto one of the beast before biting its throat. The beast let out a cry of pain before collapsing on the ground, dead.  
"Fast," Eren stared in awe.  
"It is called a lion," Optimus explained, "It runs faster than your horse, they have claws to grip on their prey, and their teeth are designed to tear into flesh. These animals are built to kill."  
"But why do they have to kill?" Eren asked.  
Eren widened his eyes as he saw two baby lions running towards the adult lion. The adult lion licked to two cubs on the head before all three began eating their kill.  
"Sometimes they have something to protect," Optimus answered.  
Optimus changed the scene into Arctic region. Eren widened his eyes as he saw everything was frozen.  
"Is that?" Eren began.  
"The frozen earth that Armin referred to," Optimus said, "It is quite dangerous place if you do not have proper clothing. Even I could not withstand the cold weather."  
"Eh? You can die?" Eren asked in surprise.  
"My race is not invincible," Optimus said, "and even though our life-span is longer than a human, we can still be killed. I strongly disagree with going into that region."  
Eren began laughing. "I can't believe you have dislikes."  
"Not everyone favors everything," Optimus said before noticing the bags under Eren's eyes.  
"Eren, I think it is time for you to rest," Optimus said.  
"Huh?" Eren questioned before touching the bags under his eyes, "I guess, but what about the outside world?"  
"I will tell you more about it," Optimus promised, "All you must do is ask."  
"Thank you," Eren said.  
Optimus raised his servo as Eren slowly climbed onto it. Optimus slowly put Eren to the ground and Eren slowly climbed of.  
"Goodnight, Eren," Optimus said.  
Eren smiled before giving a small wave and walking back to the castle. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.  
Eren jumped as he heard a shifting noise and turned to see Optimus in his alt mode. Eren sighed nervously. They were right, he really wasn't going to get used to that.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------  
(Deleted Scene)  
"Oh, Optimus, I forgot to ask," Hanji began as she ran back to Optimus while he was eating energon, "How come you have a mouth?"  
Optimus looked in confusion. "Ms. Zoe, you are going to have to clarify."  
"When we met, you didn't have a mouth," Hanji explained, "Now you do,"  
Optimus thought it over before putting two and two together. "Are you referring to my battle mask?"  
"Battle mask?" Hanji questioned.  
"I am equipped with a battle mask that protects my face whenever in combat," Optimus explained.  
As a demonstration, Optimus activated his battle mask before retracting it.  
Hanji smiled. "Going in the journal!"  
Hanji ran into the castle before Optimus sighed under his breath.  
She was definitely a Miko-Silas combo.


	6. Before the Expedition part 2

"Train me," Eren demanded.

Optimus sliced a tree in half before looking at Eren in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"I want you to train me," Eren repeated, "Your fighting style is better than the people I know, especially after what I saw in the courtroom. If I can learn your fighting style, I can use that whenever I'm in my titan form, and kill more titans."

"I cannot do that, Eren," Optimus said.

Eren looked in confusion before he became frustrated. "Hey! Why?"

"Because your race does not trust me," Optimus answered.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"We pose a threat to humanity," Optimus explained as he kneeled down to face him, "The Survey Corps is still cautious of us while many want us dead. If I were to train you, that would arouse suspicion, and your race will have more of the reason to kill us."

Eren looked down in sadness. "Oh, I see."

"I have no issue with training you; however, it is not my place to decide. I will ask to see if I am able to train you. If they say no, then there is nothing more than I can do." Optimus told him.

"Then there's a chance?" Eren asked with a little hope.

"It's very slim, but possible," Optimus answered.  
\------------------------------------------  
"Training?" Erwin asked in surprise.

"Yes," Optimus answered while in his holoform, "Eren wishes to learn my fighting style, so that he may kill more titans while in his titan form without getting tired."

"It is not my place," Erwin answered.

"You are the Commander of the Survey Corps. I do not understand how it is not your place." Optimus admitted.

"Before your trial, Eren was placed under the guardianship of someone else in the Survey Corps," Erwin explained, "You will have to ask him."

"Who do I need to ask?" Optimus asked.

"Captain Levi," Erwin answered.  
\--------------------------------------------  
Optimus walked around the castle in his bipedal mode as he looked for Levi. After looking within the castle, Optimus decided to look for him outside in his actual form. After checking the interior area of the castle, he began to check the perimeter of the castle. Optimus then heard a wiping noise and turned a corner to see Levi wiping a window, using his 3D gear to stay in place.

"Levi, may I speak with you?" Optimus asked.

Levi sighed in irritation. "What do you want? I'm busy."

Optimus resisted the urge to deadpan. "I've come to ask for your permission."

Levi stopped wiping and looked at Optimus. "Permission?"

"Eren has requested for me to train him," Optimus explained, "However, I came to ask for permission because I do not wish for any suspicion to grow about us plotting to destroy humanity."

Levi jus gave Optimus a blank look. "I don't trust you."

"And that is why I am asking for your permission," Optimus retorted, "I have no reason to attack your kind. I am merely trying to gain your trust."

Levi sighed. "All right, let's make a deal."

"A deal?" Optimus asked in confusion.

"You're going to be helping us with Eren's experiments from what I've been hearing from Hanji," Levi began, "If the experiment goes well and we find something new about the titans, I'll let you train him."

"And if there is nothing new?" Optimus asked.

"You help me clean the rest of the castle," Levi answered, "Is that a deal?"

"It is a deal," Optimus answered.

"Good," Levi said before he used his 3D Gear to go around the castle.

Optimus waited a couple of seconds before mentally yelling at himself for what he just did.  
\-----------------------------------  
"Ready, Eren?" Hanji asked from the top of the well, "When it's prepared, I'll use the smoke round to notify you. After that, any decisions are up to you."

"Roger!" Eren said from the bottom of the well.

"I do not understand how this will help," Optimus admitted as he looked at Hanji.

"The well is able to hold up even the most mindless titans," Hanij explained, "We'll be able to experiment without any problems."

Optimus could've sworn he heard Hanji say probably before firing a green smoke round, signaling for the experiment to start. Levi looked back at Optimus before looking back at the well.

The three waited for the well to be destroyed and for Eren's titan form to appear, but nothing happened.

"Did he not see the signal?" Hanji asked in confusion.

"No," Levi answered, "His ability just isn't that reliable."

Optimus walked over to the well and looked inside. "Eren, are you alright?"

"Did something happen?" Hanji asked as she looked down as well.

The two widened their eyes in shock while Levi kept a neutral expression. Eren looked up at them with a face full of horror as blood was coming from both his hands and mouth.

"I can't become a titan," Eren said with dread.  
\------------------------------------  
"I can't believe Eren didn't transform," Hanji sighed with sadness as she inspected Optimus' foot.

"Ms. Zoe, Eren's power is new to him and he never knew he had this power in the first place. You must give it time." Optimus reassured.

'I am more concerned about the fact that Eren will not be able to train with me,' Optimus thought, 'And that Levi will make me clean the rest of the castle.'

"I still don't get why Eren didn't transform," Hanji remarked as she spun the wheel on Optimus' leg.

"Maybe there is another trigger," Optimus suggested, "You thought it was self-injury, but apparently that is not entirely the case."

"But how are we going to find out what it is?" Hanji asked.

"I merely takes time," Optimus answered, "Ms. Zoe, I wish to inform you of something. It is when Eren transforms."

Hanji looked up at Optimus in confusion. "What happens?"

"Lighting," Optimus answered, "When Eren transforms, there is usually a streak of gold lighting that comes down. I thought it was responsible for causing damage within the wall, but when I saw it two more times I realized it had to deal with the transformation."

"So if a single streak of gold lighting comes down, someone has transformed into a titan?" Hanji asked.

"Yes," Optimus answered.

At that moment, a streak of gold lighting came down followed by a thunderous sound. Optimus widened his optics before transforming into his alt mode and driving towards the source.

"Optimus, wait!" Hanji called out as she ran after him.

Optimus arrived at an open area and activated his holoform. Optimus widened his eyes in shock as he saw Eren's hand in a half-formed titan body. Levi's squad was surrounding Eren with their blades out, along with a strong intent to kill.

Optimus heard cheering noise as he looked behind him to see Hanji jumping for joy as she ran towards Eren. Optimus followed the suite and ran towards the squad.

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

"Eren transformed without permission," Eld answered without taking his eyes off of Eren.

"I told you I don't know what happened!" Eren retorted.

"Eren, let me touch it! Can I touch it?!" Hanji asked while drool came from her mouth.

"Hanji!" Optimus called out as Hanji touched the muscular hand. She backed away and as she got on her knees and screamed while raising her hands in the air.

"It's hot!" she yelled, "It's really hot without the skin!"

Optimus then noticed Eren's hand stuck in the muscle of the body. He climbed onto the half-formed titan using the skeletal area.

"What are you doing?" Eren asked as Optimus grabbed his arm.

"Pull," Optimus instructed.

The two pulled together before Eren's hand came out of the muscle. The two stumbled off the body before landing roughly on the ground. Hanji began panicking as the body began disintegrating.

"No wait! I still need to do-" Hanji stopped as she noticed something in the titan's hand. Was that a spoon?  
\-------------------------------  
Eren sighed as he sat in a castle room with Levi.

"Until I saw that they were actually ready to kill me, I didn't understand," Eren began, "That they doubted me so much."

"Of course they do," Levi said casually, "That's why I choose them."

Eren looked at him in surprise.

"People say you only become a full member of the Survey Corps after making it back alive from a mission," Levi explained, "But whenever you fight the Titans, you never have enough information. There are too many situations you just can't anticipate, no matter what. They've had to cultivate the ability to take quick action and to make ruthless decisions by assuming the worst case scenario, but that doesn't mean they've become heartless. It's not like they felt anything when they drew their swords."

"Captain Levi, Squad Leader Hanji wants to see you," a soldier informed.

Levi simply looked as he saw his squad and Hanji walk into the room. "Take a long crap?"

"Actually it was pleasantly quick," Hanji admitted, "I wasn't sure what to tell the brass. Well for now," Hanji pulled out something wrapped in cloth and unraveled it to reveal a teaspoon. "Look at this,"

"A teaspoon?" Eren asked in confusion.

"Yes," Hanji answered as she picked it up, "The right hand of the titan hand Eren created was holding this. It's hard to imagine that it was an accident, the heat and pressure didn't warp the spoon at all. Anything come to mind?"

"I was trying to pick it up," Eren answered.

"It makes sense now," Hanji remarked, "'Kill the titans', 'Block the cannon shell,' 'Lift the boulder.' In each case, you must have a strong will in order to transform."

"In other words, you didn't change on purpose," Gunther concluded.

"No, sir," Eren answered.

The four members looked at each other and nodded their heads before biting their hands. Hanji and Eren looked in surprise and confusion while Levi kept a neutral expression.

"That hurt," Eld remarked, "I'm amazed you could bite through, Eren."

"We made the wrong decision," Gunther said, "This is a small price to pay, not that it makes a difference."

"Keeping you under control is our job," Oluo told Eren, "And there's nothing wrong with that so don't get cocky!"

"We're sorry," Petra apologized, "We were just so jumpy, but from now on we're going to rely on you and we want you to rely on us. So have faith in us,"

Eren was silent as he stared at them before nodding his head in understanding.

Levi then sighed to himself. "Looks like I lost,"

Hanji looked at Levi in confusion. "Lost what?"

Levi didn't say anything before walking out of the room without looking back. Everyone looked at the door before looking at each other.

"What was that about?" Eld asked.  
\------------------------------------  
"Hey, Prime!" Levi called out.

Optimus looked down to see Levi crossing his arms.

"You win, go ahead and train the brat," Levi told him before walking away.

Optimus raised an eyebrow in confusion. That was rather odd, but at least Eren will be happy.  
\----------------------------  
"He said 'yes'?" Eren asked with excitement.

Optimus nodded his head. "I have been granted permission to train you."

"Yes!" Eren cheered.

'At least I will not be forced to clean the castle,' Optimus thought.

"So when do we start?" Eren asked.

"Right now," Optimus answered.

"Eh? Really?" Eren asked in surprise.

Optimus transformed into his alt mode before activating his holoform. "I see no issue. Ms. Zoe is currently busy and does not require us for experimentation."

Eren smiled. He was finally going to get stronger. He'll be able to kill all the titans.

"Where do you wish to train?" Optimus asked.

"There should be an open area," Eren answered as he pointed in a direction with trees.

"Understood," Optimus said.  
\---------------------------------  
Eld, Gunther, and Oluo lifted their heads from a bush as they saw Optimus and Eren walking over to an open area surrounded by large trees.

"Why do we have to spy on the two?" Gunther asked.

"Because Captain Levi doesn't trust Optimus," Eld answered.

"What about Eren?"

"It's just Optimus,"

"Well then why are you here?" Gunther demanded as he looked at Oluo.

"I want to see this guy in action," Oluo answered as he scowled, "Since he thinks he's so great."

"He killed over a hundred titans," a voice said.

The three jumped as they looked behind them to see Mike looking at them with crossed arms.

"What are you doing?" Mike demanded.

"Levi wanted us to spy," Eld answered.

"So Levi's actually letting Optimus train him," Mike remarked.

"Yeah, something about a deal," Gunther said.

Mike sighed to himself. No wonder Levi was grumbling to himself about losing a bet. Mike slightly chuckled to himself. Now that he thought about it, it was hilarious.

Optimus held the wooden dagger in his hand and observed it. "This is what you use to train?"

"Yes," Eren answered.

"I find it rather strange that instead of using those long blades from your weaponry, you would use a small dagger," Optimus admitted.

"Well a friend of mine told me that you're not always going to fight with the same weapon. You have to be resourceful." Eren recalled.

"Your friend is very observant," Optimus said as he threw the dagger to Eren.

Eren stumbled to catch it before looking at Optimus in confusion. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"I want you to fight me," Optimus answered.

Eren stared at Optimus dumbfounded. There was silence between as he heard birds chirping and flying above them. "Eh?"

"I want you to fight me," Optimus restated.

There was another moment of silence between the two before Eren turned away and covered his mouth as his face was filled with dread. Optimus raised an eyebrow in confusion, followed by Eld, Gunther, and Oluo.

"What's the kids so worked up about?" Oluo asked.

"Besides the fact that he killed over a hundred titans, he disarmed three Military Police officers without any weapons," Mike answered as he leaned against the tree, "He could've also killed them."

"This is about what you saw in the courtroom," Optimus realized.

Eren nodded his head. He wasn't going to lie. When Optimus took out those soldiers, it terrified him. The way he fought, it was better than what he's seen at all. Optimus was practically a one-man army.

"Eren, I understand that you are scared of me and that you are afraid to fight me, but I think that it is better to learn right now and fail than to be killed on the battlefield," Optimus explained.

Eren looked at Optimus in confusion as he took his hand off of his mouth. "We fight titans. We know what to except with a normal one."

"I am speaking of in general," Optimus corrected, "You have never been at war with your own kind. You are trained to be prepared for battle. I; however, was forced to adapt to the battlefield. And war is a brutal place that will not show mercy. It is better to learn from your mistakes right now, than for you to make the wrong move."

Eren looked at him before nodding his head in understanding.

"Are you ready then?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Eren answered as he got into his regular fighting stance.

"Let us begin," Optimus declared as he got into a fighting stance of his own.

Eren looked in slight confusion. His stance was somewhat similar to Annie. The only difference was that Optimus' legs were spread out more.

Eren brushed that aside and let out a battle cry as he attacked him. Eren gasped as he felt the dagger being taken from him as he was elbowed in the chest. Eren grunted as he skidded across the floor on his back. Eren sat up to see Optimus in a different stance. His left hand was in front of him while his right hand was behind him, holding the dagger; however, his legs were still in the same position.

Eld, Gunther, and Oluo widened their eyes while Mike kept a neutral expression. Optimus' hand relaxed and fell to his side before he threw the dagger back to Eren. Eren grabbed the dagger before getting up and charging once again.

Eren slashed at Optimus' face, but Optimus dodged it at the last second before tripping Eren. Eren yelped before his back made contact with the ground. He then widened his eyes as he saw the dagger in Optimus' hand again. How Optimus was able to get the dagger was beyond him.

Eren tried to kick Optimus, but Optimus jumped backwards and skidded to a stop. Eren got up and tried to punch Optimus, but Optimus dodged the attack. Eren widened his eyes in shock as Optimus quickly moved behind him and flipped the dagger so that the hilt was facing him. Eren felt a shock go through the back of his head as the hilt of the dagger made contact with it. Eren fell forward onto his face while Optimus got into another fighting stance. His arm was covering his mouth while the tip of the dagger was pointing at his opponent. His other arm was just below his right, blocking his chest area.

Eren growled to himself as he slowly got up and rubbed the back of his head. He looked back at Optimus as his anger continued to boil. How? How was he so damn calm? How was he able to stop him so easily? Eren forced himself onto his feet before charging at Optimus. Optimus took a deep breath before spreading his feet out a little. Optimus focused his eyes on Eren's chest. He was leaving his chest wide open.

Eren widened his eyes as Optimus moved towards him. Eren tried to punch him, but Optimus ducked before pointing the dagger merely inches away from his chest, right where his heart was.

Eren widened his eyes in shock in horror before slowly looking down at the position he was in. That attack was so simple. How was he able to do that?

Eld and Gunther's mouths dropped while Oluo's feet began trembling.

"Well he has a right to be cocky," Eld remarked, along with Gunther and Oluo nodding their heads in agreement.

Mike raised an eyebrow as he noticed the look in Optimus' eyes. They were never there before when he was talking with other or when the Survey Corps first met him. The only time he saw that look was when Optimus was fighting the three Military Policemen. Those eyes were focused, concentrated, but also, had a killer intent. Those eyes, those were the eyes of a killer.

Eren collapsed onto the ground while panting heavily and clutching his chest. Optimus stood up fully before wiping his hands.

"Your offense and defense both need work," Optimus explained, "You're not on constant guard and you let your emotions take control of yourself fairly easily. Your punches are not focused and rather weak. Even if you were to kill titans in your titan form, the titans would simply devour you like they have done before."

"I…" Eren panted, "I was told that you were able to restrain me in my titan form."

"That is correct," Optimus said.

"You could've killed me then right?"

"Yes,"

"Why didn't you?"

"Even though I killed before, I am not found of taking an innocent life, or the life of a human," Optimus answered.

"How many?" Eren began.

Optimus looked at Eren in confusion. "You are going to have to clarify."

"How many people have you killed?" Eren asked hesitantly.

Eren saw Optimus look away as he noticed an upsetting look in his eyes. Eren slightly widened his eyes. Did he really kill more than just a hundred titans?

"I don't know," Optimus answered.

"What does he mean by he doesn't know?" Oluo demanded.

"What do you mean by that?" Eren asked.

"Eren, Cybertronian life cycles are longer than that of a human. I have been around longer than your race has. I have been at war for eons." Optimus looked at his hands. "I do not know how much energon has stained my hands, nor do I wish to."

"I'm sorry," Eren apologized as he looked away.

Optimus kneeled down before holding out his hand. Eren noticed a gentle look in his eyes before taking his hand. Optimus pulled Eren to his feet before handing him the dagger.

"It is not your fault," Optimus said, "Now we will start by working on your stance."

"My stance?" Eren questioned.

"Yes," Optimus answered, "Your stance is not that strong. That is why I was able to knock you off of your feet very easily. You must get into a strong stance like this."

Optimus demonstrated by spreading his legs apart and using his arms to block his chest. It was a simple stance that Optimus remembered Bumblebee using. He wasn't exactly comfortable with it, but Optimus didn't have any weapons on him. If he did his stance would have been pretty different.

"Like this?" Eren asked as he mimicked Optimus.

Optimus nodded his head. Then without warning Optimus raised his leg and kicked Eren. Eren widened his eyes as he raised his arms and braced for the impact, but was confused as he only felt pain in his arm. Eren looked over to see he had blocked Optimus' kick with his arm.

"Do you notice a difference?" Optimus asked as he lowered his foot.

"Yeah," Eren answered as he rubbed his arm, "But how come you had a different stance when we fought."

"When I hold a weapon I usually have a different stance," Optimus explained, "That was just a simple boxing stance."

"You have a fighting style similar to someone that I know," Eren remarked.

"Similar?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah," Eren answered, "Her name is Annie. Her fighting style isn't as great as yours, but she can flip someone twice her size on their back. But how do know some of this places' fighting style?"

"The other planet I came across before this had advanced fighting style similar to my race. My race has its own fighting style, but I believe that when your race was forced into these wall they were unable to save their documents, history, or fighting style." Optimus explained.

"You mean the world where the humans are free?" Eren asked.

"Yes," Optimus answered.

"Wait, there's a world where humans are free?" Eld asked in shock.

"Did he ever mention that?" Gunther asked.

"I did not mention that," Optimus answered without looking behind him.

The three jumped while Mike slightly flinched. Eren looked at Optimus in confusion before looking before him to see the four coming out from their hiding spot.

"What are you guys doing here?" Eren asked in confusion.

"Captain Levi sent you," Optimus answered.

"Mainly these two," Oluo said as he pointed to Eld on Gunther.

"Why didn't you say anything about that before?" Mike demanded.

"I felt as though it would be unwise," Optimus answered as he turned to them, "If I had mentioned that in the courtroom, it may have caused uneasiness. I also thought that it was unnecessary, because I have already made it clear that I have not been to this world. If it has caused suspicion with you four, then I apologize for the inconvenience."

The members of Levi 's squad looked at each other before each before smiling at Optimus.

"Jeez, you don't have bad bone in your body," Oluo remarked.

"So far, all you've done help humanity and haven't done anything wrong," Gunther said, "You've pretty much proven you're an ally."

"Thank you," Optimus said as he slightly bowed.

Mike didn't say anything as he turned around and walked away.

"I assume that Levi would want you three to keep watch as I train Eren," Optimus assumed.

"Yes," Eld said, "We'll stay out of the way so you two have more room."

The three walked over next to a tree and sat down before Optimus looked over at Eren.

"We will resume training," Optimus told him, "We will practice with your stance and defense while we figure out its flaws."

Eren nodded his head with determination as he got into the stance Optimus showed him. He gripped the dagger before letting out a battle cry and charging at Optimus.  
\--------------------------------  
Eren lied down on the ground and looked up at orange sky. He panted heavily as he felt his muscles ache all over.

"I believe that we are down for the day," Optimus proclaimed.

Eren turned his head over to see Optimus kneeling down next to him while holding the dagger in his hand. Eren growled as he tried to grab the dagger, but winced as he felt his muscles ache even further.

"Stop trying kid," Oluo advised as he walked over to Eren, "Your practically useless right now."

Eren winced as he slowly forced himself up. Optimus sighed before putting the dagger down and putting Eren's arms over his shoulders. Eren widened his eyes as he felt himself being lifted up off the ground. He slightly flushed with embarrassment as he realized Opitmus was carrying him on his back.

"I will take Eren back to the castle, if it is alright with you three," Optimus informed.

" It's okay. We have to go plan for the expedition anyway," Eld said.

Optimus nodded his head in understanding before adjusting Eren on his shoulders and walking towards the castle. Optimus heard Eren sigh in slight irritation as he felt him adjust his head on his shoulder.

"My body hurts like hell," Eren remarked.

"It will usually hurt the first time around, but your body will get used to it in due time," Optimus explained.

"I don't know if I can handle anymore," Eren slightly whined.

"You are growing in strength like you wanted to," Optimus reminded.

"Yeah," Eren smiled before it disappeared, "You know something?"

Optimus looked at him with curiosity as the castle came into view.

"I'm actually jealous of you," Eren admitted.

Optimus looked at him with surprise before chuckling, causing Eren to look at him in surprise.

"You're chuckling," Eren said as he lifted his head from his shoulder, "You don't-"

"Eren, I am usually trained to keep my emotions in check," Optimus explained as he gave Eren a warm smile, "I usually show my emotions to people whom I trust, but in all honesty, you did catch me by surprise. I am a being stranded on another world. Why would you be jealous of me?"

Eren rested his head on Optimus' shoulder, "Because you're free,"

Optimus looked at Eren with wide eyes.

"Even though you can't go back, you have a world that you can call home. You've been to a world where humans are free." Eren looked up at the setting sun. "You've even seen what's beyond those worlds and can easily leave these walls without any form of fear for your life. I thought you would try to find a way to go back to your home, but you're willing to waste your time on a weak and spineless species like us."

Optimus was silent for a moment as the two arrived at the castle doors. "You're not weak."

Eren widened his eyes in shock as Optimus carefully opened the door and walked inside. "I have seen great courage with your race. You all have the power to choose, and I applaud you because you would choose to fight in your dire situation. Even though I do not prefer the methods, I have great respect for the Survey Corps because they are willing to risk their lives for humanity to survive. And even if I do find a way back to my home, which is impossible, I would still do everything in my power to help humanity."

Eren just looked at him while adjusting his head on Optimus' shoulder. Optimus really didn't have a bad bone in his body.

"But how come you can't go back home?" Eren asked.

"There are multiple reason. For one, I do not know where this planet is located, nor do I have the tools to contact my comrades," Optimus explained, "I have completed my task of protecting my planet; however, I am not sure it if is wise for me to return."

Eren looked in confusion. "Why? They're your comrades. Why wouldn't you want to go back?"

"We are here," Opitmus said as he arrived at Eren's door.

"But…" Eren trailed off as Optimus carefully set him on the ground.

"Eren, discussing about my past is a rather sensitive topic," Optimus explained, "But the reason why I do not think it is wise to return is because…my comrades believe that I am dead. Even if I were to return, they would believe that I am a fake."

"They think…you're dead?" Eren widened his eyes in shock, "How?"

"It is a rather complicated story," Optimus answered, "I explain to you whenever I get the chance, along with the outside world. For now I must take my leave of you."

Eren nodded his head in sadness before Optimus walked away and disappeared into sparks.

Eren sighed as he walked into his room and took off his jacket, wincing in pain. He looked down in sadness.

Optimus really didn't have anywhere to go. He was stranded on another world while everyone he knew believed he was dead, yet he was willingly throwing his own issues aside just to help humanity. Eren never knew that someone could be that selfless.

One question was running through his mind however: How much was Optimus truly suffering?  
\-----------------------------------  
"They must've really hated titans," Connie remarked, causing Armin to look at him.

The Military Police was checking the trainees to see if they could discover who the culprit was in the death of the two titans. For some reason, they thought it was the Trainee Corps, causing some complaints.

"Yeah, but they ended up helping the titans instead of humanity," Armin retorted, "It was a really big blow to humanity."

"I guess I could understand what the person was doing, because I'm an idiot," Connie admitted, "I really was planning to join to Survey Corps, but after that day, I never want to see their hideous faces again. And today we have to decide which group were joining."

Connie looked over a Jean who kept a neutral expression, but had his hand clenched into a fist.

'Even Jean's serious,' Connie thought. For the past five years, Jean was acting so arrogant and prideful about joining the Military Police. Now he wants to join the Survey Corps instead. Wouldn't he want to join the Military Police even more after what he saw? But is also made Connie feel guilty. Even after what Jean saw, he was going to do the same daring move again. It made him feel like a fucking coward.

"Damn it," Connie muttered, "What do you think Armin? Jean said he's joining the Survey Corps."

"Jean said that?" Armin asked in surprise.

"Nothing in particular," Annie answered.

"You said that you were going to join the Military Police," Connie remembered, "Maybe I should too,"

"If someone told you to die, would you?" Annie asked.

"Of course not," Connie answered, rather confused and surprised by her question.

"Then why don't you make your own choice," Annie suggested, "What about you, Armin?"

"Um…" Armin trailed off, "If the situation requires me to I'll lay down my life, not that I want to,"

"Then you've made your choice," Annie proclaimed, "You're weak, but you have guts."

"Thank you," Armin said, unsure if he was suppose to take that as an insult or a compliment, "You seem to be awfully nice today."

Annie looked at Armin, slightly caught off guard.

"It's almost as if you don't want me to join the Survey Corps." Armin remarked, "Any reason why, you're joining the Military Police?"

"Not much," Annie answered, "It's just that I want to survive."  
\------------------------------  
"So you weren't equipped with weapons before?" Hanji asked as she inspected Optimus' weapons with gloves.

"Not before the war," Optimus explained, "When the war started and I joined the Autobots, I had to equip myself with weapons in order to fight and defend."

"You said that energon powers your guns, so wouldn't that take a toll on you because your food source is used in your weapons?" Hanji asked.

"I can last without energon for a while," Optimus explained, "however, when I first arrived here, I had to be careful with how I used my blasters since I did not know how much energon I had in my systems."

"How fast can the ammo go?" Hanji asked with curiosity, "Can you show me?"

Optimus quietly sighed before aiming his gun into the air. He charged the blaster and fired, causing a blue light to shoot into the shy and into the unknown.

"Awesome!" Hanji smiled.

"Optimus, I wish to speak with you," a voice said.

Optimus and Hanji looked over to see Erwin walking towards them.

"Commander," Optimus greeted as he transformed his blasters into hands. He really did not want to speak with him.

"Hanji I need to speak with Optimus," Erwin told Hanji.

"I'm experimenting," Hanji retorted.

"It's important," Erwin informed.

Hanji sighed. "Fine, but you owe me for this."

Hanji waved goodbye to Optimus before walking away, leaving Optimus and Erwin alone.

"What do you wish to discuss with me?" Optimus asked.

"I want you to attend the coronation of the Cadets. They're deciding with military branch to join," Erwin explained.

"Knowing your ambiguous personality, you want me to do something different," Optimus assumed.

"Yes, I need you to find someone of interest of being the spy," Erwin explained.

"Without any proof for your claim still?" Optimus asked.

"I've said before I'm willing to take the gamble, but I need as much help as I can in order to win that gamble," Erwin proclaimed.

Optimus just looked at him. He really didn't like the methods he was using in order to achieve his goal. He couldn't do anything to change his methods, because he had no authority and the government wouldn't allow him to. It also would've benefitted him if he had more advanced technology, but this world was too primitive to make devices like tracking technology. He had no choice but to comply.

"I will go," Optimus said. He then transformed into his alt mode before activating his holoform and looking at Erwin.

"Do you think you can change what you're wearing?" Erwin asked, causing Optimus to look at him in confusion.

"Your clothing stands out," Erwin explained, "If you could change into something our race has, then there won't be much suspicion."

Optimus nodded his head in understanding before his clothing began to shift. Erwin slightly widened his eyes as the clothing changed into the Survey Corps uniform.

"Is this more appropriate?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Erwin answered, "Let's go."  
\------------------------------  
Armin, Sasha, Connie, and Annie were leaning against the wall, waiting for the ceremony to start. Armin and Connie looked over at Sasha who was constantly scanning the area. Connie could've even sworn that she was growling.

"Sasha, are you okay?" Armin asked.

"Fine," Sasha answered rather rudely, not even looking at Armin.

Armin looked at her in confusion while Connie squeaked in surprise. Was she okay? Armin heard footsteps as he turned to see Jean walking towards them.

"Jean, are you really planning to join the Survey Corps?" Armin asked.

"Yeah," Jean answered.

"Aren't you scared, man?" Connie asked, "This is the Survey Corps, why do you want to join now?"

"Of course I don't want to join the Survey Corps," Jean blatantly stated, causing Connie to look at him in confusion.

"Th-then why?" Connie asked.

"I'm not saying titans don't scare me anymore, or that best should join the Survey Corps," Jean explained, "I'm not eager to die like some."

"You mean Eren," Connie realized, "He joined the Survey Corps along with that Prime guy."

Armin noticed Sasha twitching at the name.

"Trainees, line up at the stage!" an authority announced, "The ceremony is about to start."

"I don't want to die or throw my life away needlessly, but I have to do something in order to make a change, or else no one else will." Jean proclaimed before walking away.

Armin felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Sasha giving a deleterious look.

"He's here," Sasha proclaimed, "Armin, he's here."

"Sasha, what are you talking about?" Armin asked.

Sasha pointed past Armin, causing Armin to look over and widen his eyes in shock. Armin saw the back of Optimus' alt mode while the remainder was hiding behind a brick wall. Optimus' alt mode moved once again behind the brick wall, completely hidden from view.

'What's he doing here?' Armin thought.  
\-------------------------------  
Optimus' holoform hid behind a brick wall on the stage while observing the sight before him. Erwin was standing alone on the stage while he faced the remainder of the Trainee Corps.

'How will he find anyone of suspicion in a place like this?' Optimus thought.

"I am Erwin Smith: Commander of the Survey Corps," Erwin introduced, "Today you will join a military branch. In short, I am here to persuade you to join the Survey Corps. After the Battle of Trost, you've seen how terrifying titans can be and how limited your power is, but that battle has led us closer to humanity's victory, through Eren Jaeger and Optimus Prime's existence. "

Optimus widened his eyes in shock. What does he think he's doing?

"They have both proven to be friends to humanity. And not have we found ways in advancing our weaponry and stop the Titan's advances, but we also have a way of discovering their true nature. In Eren's basement in the Zhiganshina district lies the secret to the titans."

'What in Primus' name is he doing?' Optimus thought. He can't just go and publicize this information. It could make the spy come after Eren even more.

Optimus raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he noticed someone's eyes gleam with interest for a brief moment before returning to a neutral expression. Perhaps he wanted to lure the spy in.

"That still requires us to retake Wall Maria, so our objective hasn't changed. But with the Trost gate sealed, we will have to make our way to Wall Maria through the Karanes district. The trail made for a large army has gone to waste. Sixty percent lost their lives in the last four years; an insane figure. We are planning a expedition for the next month, and we are estimating that thirty percent will not return. Sixty percent will be gone in the next four years, but even with those distressing facts, are you willing to give your hearts up for the survival of humanity?"

Optimus kept a blank expression. Erwin wasn't entirely mad. He was warning them that if you took the path of the Survey Corps that you will die, but that if they had the courage, they would end up helping humanity thrive.

"For those who are not willing to do so, may leave," Erwin finished.

One by one, the soldiers began to leave. Optimus saw them leaving in crowds, but noticed that some of them were not moving. He could see it on their faces, they were debating whether or not they should stay or go. Then only ones that were left were about ten or so soldiers. He recognized Armin and Mikasa, but the rest were unfamiliar to him.

"If someone ordered you to die, would you?" Erwin asked.

"No I wouldn't!" a soldier answered.

"I see, I like the looks on your faces. Then I welcome everyone here to the Survey Corps! This is a true salute!" Erwin proclaimed as he saluted them.

Everyone followed the suite and saluted Erwin. He noticed some of them had terrified looks on their faces while others wear crying.

"You all came here and faced your fear. You have my heartfelt respect," Erwin said.

Optimus just looked at them one more time before dispersing into sparks.  
\-----------------------------  
"I called you four here to discuss what will happen during the 57th expedition," Erwin explained.

"Question," Hanji began, "Why is Optimus here?"

Levi and Mike looked over to see Hanji casually pointing at Optimus' holoform.

"Optimus was able to answer the question," Erwin simply answered.

Hanji thought it over before shrugging casually.

"So what's going to happen?" Levi asked with apathy.

"The goal is to capture the spy during this mission," Erwin explained as he unrolled a map of Wall Maria, "We will lead the spy here."

Erwin pointed to a cluster of trees, causing Optimus to look in slight confusion while the three widened their eyes.

"The Forest of Giant Trees?" Mike asked.

"Oi, Erwin that place is crawling with titans," Levi reminded.

"It's also the place that has the most cover," Erwin retorted, "it would be too obvious if the trap was in an open area."

"A trap?" Optimus asked.

"Yes," Erwin answered, "We've made the assumption that the spy is a titan shifter, so we need enough time to set up the trap, and that is what the cover is for. Mike and Hanji will set up the trap."

Hanji smirked. "This trap is going to be perfect."

"Levi, you and your squad along with Eren will be placed in the safest place of the formation. You will ride into the forest towards the trap causing the spy to go after Eren. When the spy reaches you and you are near the trap, fire a smoke flare so we will be prepared to catch the spy."

"Okay," Levi said causally.

"Optimus, the spy's goal seems to be Eren, but he or she will stay away from you," Erwin began.

"Why would the spy stay away from Optimus?" Hanji asked.

"Because I am more powerful than the spy," Optimus answered.

"The only one who has a chance of standing against him is the Armored Titan, but it hasn't been seen in five years. If anything goes wrong, Optimus you need to engage the spy and detain him or her." Erwin told him.

"Understood," Optimus said.

"Is there anything else?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Erwin answered, "Eren's location must not be told. We don't know if the spy is within our ranks, especially with the new recruits."

"So how you gonna fool him?" Hanji asked.

"I will give a sheet of paper that has Eren in a different location in the formation. Each paper will have a different location. This will also give us more time to set up the trap," Erwin explained, "Once the titan is captured, we will interrogate it by any means necessary. Optimus, we will need your technological experience. Work with Hanji on new devices."

"Sure that's a great idea?" Levi asked.

"Levi, we don't have much time until the mission," Erwin retorted.

"I will do it," Optimus said.

Hanji smiled. "Yes!"

"Great," Levi groaned.

The mission starts in three weeks. Make sure to be prepared," Erwin advised.  
\-----------------------------  
Armin yawned as he quietly walked around the castle. Somehow Armin woke up in the middle of the night, even though he was tired before he went to bed. So he decided to look around the castle.

In all honesty, he was quite surprised when most of the Survey Corps could fit into the castle. Maybe----- he's just not used to living in large houses since he's been living in small ones his whole life.

He walked near a door and looked in slight confusion as he noticed a light emitting from the room. He peaked inside and widened his eyes to see book stacked onto desks and someone flipping through the pages of a book. Armin slowly opened the door to reveal Optimus quietly reading a book. He also noticed another stack of books on the other side of him.

"Optimus-san," Armin said.

Optimus stopping reading and looked up to see Armin. "I see you are doing well, Armin."

"What are you doing here?" Armin asked.

"I do not know much about this world, so I was given permission to read your books. However, I was not given enough time during the day. That is why I am here right now," Optimus explained, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I couldn't," Armin sighed in embarrassment, "Um…I haven't seen Eren around. Is he alright?"

"He is alright," Optimus answered, "Since Eren is under Levi's guardianship, he must keep a close eye on him."

Optimus noticed Armin sighing with relief.

"Do you have any relationship to Eren?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, we were friends since we were kids," Armin answered.

"I see," Optimus said.

"Opitmus-san, were you at the ceremony by any chance?" Armin asked as he grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Yes, I had to keep myself hidden so there wouldn't be any form of chaos," Optimus explained.

"But why were you there in the first place?" Armin asked.

"It was for military purposes," Optimus simply answered.

Optimus knew that Erwin didn't want anyone to know about the plan; so he knew he had to keep any questions about it short and simple.

Armin didn't say anything as he took one of the books from the stacks and began flipping through the pages. Armin looked in confusion as he realized the information in the book was about the titans. He even saw a picture of a titan regenerating its head.

"These are about the titans," Armin observed.

"I am simply looking for any more information about the titans," Optimus explained, "I was only briefed about its history by Commander Erwin, and you were the one who told me how to kill them. I have said I do not know much about this world, so I felt research would be beneficial for me. Learning about the titan's origins and their weaknesses would prove to be beneficial when attacking with my blades. I do not wish to waste anymore energon."

"Does the energon have a blue color?" Armin asked.

"Yes," Optimus answered.

"Does it…have anything to do with the blue smoke from earlier?" Armin asked.

There was silence in the room as Armin noticed a rather choleric expression on his face. Optimus took a deep breath before putting a hand on his head.

"I do not wish to discuss the topic," Optimus answered.

"Sorry," Armin apologized.

Optimus really didn't want to discuss what happened in the afternoon. After Erwin decided to let him and Hanji create new weapons, Hanji decided to tamper with energon since it was toxic to titans. Unfortunately after Optimus' warnings about energon being toxic, flammable, and explosive, she ignited the energon with a fragging flame torch. Optimus had to throw it in the air and shoot it before it hit the ground, causing the blue smoke that Armin was referring to. This resulted in Hanji being 'out-of-commission' for the rest of the day by a certain captain. Optimus was starting to have a very big feeling on where Eren got the bruises from when in the courtroom.

The two suddenly heard footsteps and looked over at the door to see Jean standing there.

"Armin, what are you doing here?" He asked as he walked into the room.

"I couldn't sleep," Armin answered, "What about you?"

"I heard people talking after I went to get water," Jean explained before looking at Optimus, "Who's this?"

Optimus studied the boy quietly. He could've sworn he's seen him before. Didn't he ask for his name?

Optimus suddenly remembered: he was one of the trainees that fought in Trost. He remembered telling him to go to their headquarters and when he was yelling at another fellow trainee when he took six of them to the wall. He was pretty sure it was something about a nice view on his shoulders.

"Jean, if I am correct," Optimus said.

Jean looked at Optimus with wide eyes before taking a step back.

"We've never met before, how the hell do you know my name?" Jean demanded.

"Jean, that's Optimus Prime, the metal titan," Armin whispered.

"Huh?" Jean questioned, "How are you the metal titan?"

'People still call me that,' Optimus thought. Optimus raised his lower arm before it began to shift. The arm became a blur before it changed into the hand of his bipedal mode. Optimus moved the head around as Jean's mouth dropped.

"This is a holoform or a fake imagery," Optimus explained, as the hand changed back, "I am just using it for research right now."

Optimus looked in slight surprise while Armin was trying to keep his composure as Jean bowed.

"I'm sorry," Jean apologized, "This wasn't how I wanted to thank you."

"Eh?" Armin exclaimed.

"Thank me?" Opitmus asked.

"Yeah," Jean answered as he stood up fully, "You saved Trost and many lives, along with the rest of humanity. If Wall Rose fell humanity would've been extinct. Thank you."

Armin couldn't believe it. Not only did Jean join the Survey Corps, but he properly thanked someone without any other intentions. Armin looked over at Optimus and widened his eyes as he saw a small smile grace his lips.

"You're welcome, Jean," Optimus said.

Optimus felt kind of happy right now. Of course he wasn't expecting one and never asked, but it made him feel better. The only thing he got he got ever since he arrived here was constant hostility and distrust (along with constant annoyance). The only other person who ever thanked him was Eren.

"So, Optimus-san, you said that you were from another world," Armin began.

"You're from another world?" Jean asked.

"Yes," Optimus answered as he grabbed another book, "I explained a little about, but you were not there in the courtroom."

"What was your world like?" Armin asked as Jean grabbed a chair and sat down, wanting to hear the information as well.

"My world is called Cybertron," Optimus explained, "It is not located in a solar system, but it is near its own sun. Cybertron is entirely made of metal and has three moons."

"Moons?" Armin questioned.

"A moon is known to be a natural satellite to a world," Optimus explained, "It's responsible for gravitational pull on the planet and for lighting up the night sky."

"Is that what the thing up in the sky of our world is?" Jean asked.

Optimus nodded his head.

"What was being on the planet like?" Armin asked.

"Majority of the planet was architectural," Optimus explained, "There are many buildings and skyscrapers which are taller than your walls. Since we have created more lights, Cybertron illuminates during the night. As beautiful as that is, I would usually prefer looking up at the starry night sky."

Armin looked at Optimus as he noticed the emotions flowing through his eyes. He could see wonder and a form of happiness in them, but he also saw sadness.

"Optimus-san, can you go back to Cybertron?" Armin asked hesitantly.

Optimus stopped speaking before looking away from the two, "I cannot."

"I'm sorry," Armin apologized, "You probably don't like talking about it."

"It is alright, you did not know," Optimus reassured.

"Optimus, where did you learn how to fight like that in Trost?" Jean asked, realizing he needed to change the topic.

"I was fighting in a war for my home," Optimus answered, "I had no personal training so I was forced to adapt to the battlefield."

"And you're that good?" Jean asked in surprise.

"My lifecycle is longer than that of a human, so I have had experience," Optimus answered.

"Did you ever have a ranking on the side you were on?" Armin asked.

"I was the leader of the Autobots," Optimus answered.

"Leader?" Jean asked in shock.

"You mentioned that in the courtroom," Armin recalled.

"Is…that how you knew what to do in Trost?" Jean asked.

Armin looked in confusion while Optimus kept a black expression.

'He must be referring to that incident,' Optimus thought. He remembered when he and a group of trainee were heading to their HQ when one of them ran out of gas. He saved him and a few others who tried to save him. But Jean probably felt so powerless to save his comrades.

"I do not like bloodshed or the loss of a innocent life. I was mainly focused on saving as many as I could," Optimus answered.

"You said you never knew how to fight before the war. What were you before then?" Armin asked.

"I was an archivist in the Iacon Hall of Records." Optimus answered.

Optimus realized the confused expression on their faces and began to think it over. He remembered Agent Fowler using a term for him when he regained his memories and was informed about what happened during his absence.

"I was a historian, or librarian if you will," Optimus said.

"A-a librarian?" Jean squawked.

"Does that surprise you?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah, it was just something I didn't expect," Jean explained.

"Not everyone is destined for a normal life," Optimus retorted, "I was an archivist in the Iacon Hall of records known as Orion Pax."

"Eh? Isn't Optimus your real name?" Armin asked in confusion.

"Orion Pax was my former name," Optimus explained, "Optimus Prime was the name I took after I was granted the title of Prime."

Jean raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Prime is a title?"

Optimus nodded his head. "On Cybertron, the title of Prime is not granted; it must be earned. Also when given the title of Prime must be worthy of the Matrix of Leadership."

"Matrix of Leadership?" Armin questioned.

"It is a vessel of pure energy and the collective wisdom of the Primes before me," Optimus explained, "It is within my chest in my bipedal mode."

"Did you ever think that you were worthy of the title?" Jean asked.

"I never believed that I was worthy of the title," Optimus admitted, "Many believed that I was worthy of the title."

Jean slightly widened his eyes. Optimus never believed he was worthy of being leader. Optimus knew what to do during Trost, while he just stood idly by. He felt ashamed.

"So who were you fighting against during your war?" Armin asked.

"I led the Autobots in a fight against the Decepticons," Optimus explained as he grabbed a book and began to read it, "The Decepticons are ruthless and deceptive, who sought to rule and oppress. They did anything to get what they want. I saw many Cybertronians who were close went to different sides for what they believed. They were all forced to fight and kill each other."

"Were you forced to fight anyone you were close to?" Armin asked.

"I was forced to fight close friends," Optimus answered briefly.

Armin raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Optimus was answering these questions rather quickly. Almost as if he was trying to avoid a topic. Now that he thought about it, Optimus didn't say anything about the Decepticons until he asked. Matter-of-fact, he didn't mention anything about the leader. He decided to risk it.

"Optimus-san, you said you were the leader of the Autobots, so who was the leader of the Decepticons?" Armin asked.

Optimus stopped at the progress of flipping a page, causing Jean to look in confusion. Armin noticed a very deleterious look in his eyes. They looked conflicted, angry, but also sad. Armin widened his eyes as he realized what he just did, he hit a nerve point.

"I do not wish to discuss about that," Optimus said as he closed the book.

"But," Armin pressed, "Why?"

"He is just someone I do not wish to speak of," Optimus answered.

"He?" Jean questioned.

Opitmus sighed quietly. He really was trying to avoid anything about Megaton, but he felt as though he pushed any further it may cause distrust, and he didn't want that.

"If I am to tell you, you must not speak of this to anyone," Optimus told them.

Armin and Jean looked at each other before looking back at Optimus.  
\------------------------------------  
"All the titans from the gate have been removed from the gate! Thirty seconds until the gate opens!" Optimus heard a soldier yell.

Optimus could feel majority of the human's eyes on him, but he didn't mind. He was more focused on the expedition at hand.

'This is it,' Optimus told himself. He needed to stop the spy and prevent as many casualties as he could.

"Open the gate!" a soldier yelled.

Optimus turned his side-view mirror as he watched the gate rise, revealing the land of Wall Maria.

"Advanced!" Erwin commanded.

The horses rode through the gate while Optimus drove behind them.

"The 57th expedition beyond the wall has just begun!" Erwin yelled, "Onward!"  
\-----------------------  
(Deleted Scene)

Eren grunted as he skidded across the ground on his back to a stop. Eren forced his head up to see Optimus holding the dagger once again. He began to take heavy breaths as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"I am rather surprised," Optimus remarked, "Your actually body is not as strong as your titan form."

Eren looked at him in confusion before he began to laugh.

"My titan form can't be that strong," Eren denied, "I got flipping over on my back. How would my titan form be stronger than my actual form?"

Eren looked in slight surprise as Optimus slightly deadpanned.

"You do not remember do you?" Optimus asked.

"Remember what?" Eren asked.

"Besides the fact that you carried a boulder around your size, and killed twenty titans," Optimus began, "After you were being eaten, you grabbed a titan's neck with your teeth since your arms were deemed useless. You hoisted it into the air while your ribcage was collapsing in on itself, slammed two titans with the one in your teeth, and threw the titan into another one, causing them both to crash into a building, along with ripping the nape of the neck in the process. All of that in the span of thirty seconds."

Eren's mouth dropped. "I did that?"

"Yes," Optimus answered.

"Me?"

"Yes,"

"Are you sure?"

"Do you wish for me to repeat myself?"

"Kind of,"

Optimus sighed.

(Bloopers)

"I sense a disturbance within the force," Sasha proclaimed.

"Sasha this isn't Star Wars!" Jean yelled.


	7. The Female Titan part 1

The Survey Corps continued to ride out of the gate through Wall Maria with Optimus right behind them. He suddenly heard rumbling as he turned his side-view mirror to see a rather large titan heading towards them.

"Ahead, to the left, a ten meter class!" Hanji shouted.

Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode and transformed his hand into a blade before decapitating the titan, cutting off the nape of the neck in the process.

Hanji smiled. "Looks like we're not having many casualties today. Supply team, collect the remains!"

"Got it!" a soldier said as he and a few other soldiers rod over to the body.

"I will go and protect the formation," Optimus informed before he transformed and drove off.

"Whoa," Sasha breathed as she watched the titan fall. She might actually get out of this alive.

"Pay attention!" an elite instructed as he turned her head forward.

Eren looked at his friends and fellow comrades as they paid attention to the fields ahead of them. He looked back to see Optimus transform into his alt mode.

"Sir Oluo, can my friends really defeat the titans?" Eren asked with worry.

"Huh?" Oluo questioned, "What have you been doing for the past month? Listen, brat, the most crucial part in the expedition is to avoid fighting tit-"

Oluo cut himself off as he accidentally bit his tongue.

Eren didn't say anything as he looked forward, not even asking if Oluo was alright. He took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves.

He hoped that this mission would be a success. With him and Optimus on the Scouting Legion's side they had a chance of making it out of Wall Maria alive. He hoped that whatever Optimus taught him would come to good use, if the situation lead him to use his titan form. He hoped he was ready.

"Go into the long-range scouting formation!" Erwin instructed.

"See ya, Armin," Reiner said before falling behind.

"Don't piss your pants if a titan come and tries to kill you," Jean advised before falling behind as well.

"You too," Armin said.

Armin looked in confusion as Optimus was driving behind the Scouting formation. What was he doing?  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _"Optimus," Erwin began as he pulled out the scouting formation and laid it out on the ground, "I want to discuss with you about your position in the scouting formation."_

_Optimus looked at Erwin in his bipedal mode before transforming into his bipedal mode and activating his holoform._

_"Why do you wish to discuss that?" Optimus asked._

_"Hanji put in a theory that even if a titan shifter is in its titan form, the titans will still attack the titan shifter," Erwin explained._

_"That theory is true," Optimus agreed, "Eren was attacked by titans in his titan form during the battle of Trost."_

_"The titan shifter wouldn't be able to survive outside of the walls, meaning the titan shifter will be coming from the walls," Erwin concluded, "So the back line is in danger of encountering the titan shifter."_

_"You wish for me to remain behind the formation to try and fight off the titan," Optimus assumed._

_Erwin nodded his head._  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus knew that he had to keep his optics open. The titan shifter could be anywhere.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The titan shifter watched in the titan form as the Scouting Legion moved through Wall Maria. She had to get to Eren, but she had to be careful. That metal titan was the issue; however, she had to avoid him.

She looked near her to see a pack of titans walking aimlessly. She had an idea.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus continued driving behind the formation as he quietly scanned the area, so far nothing was wrong. He was just hoping it would stay that way.

"Titans!" a voice cried from the right of him, followed by rumbling.

'Oh no,' Optimus thought as he drove towards the source. Optimus heard multiple loud footsteps followed by the screams of soldiers. He transformed into his bipedal mode and widened his optics to see multiple titans running towards the right flank.

"We can't take them on!" a soldier yelled.

Optimus activated his mask before transforming both of his servos into blasters. He fired at the titan's heads, causing them to collapse on the ground and knocking down other titans.

"What the?" a soldier breathed as they all looked over to see Optimus engaging the titans.

"Get out of here now!" Optimus ordered.

"You heard the titan, move!" an elite soldier yelled as they continued riding off.

Optimus ran up to the titans and tackled one of them before flipping back onto his feet and transforming both of his hands into swords. Optimus began slicing off the nape of the necks of the titans. He began kicking some of them in the gut before cutting off their heads. He then stabbed the last titan in the chest before it slid off of his sword and fell to the ground, twitching as the wound began regenerating.

The titans were immobile for right now. he needed to see if the humans were alright.

Optimus transformed into his alt mode and drove off to find the right flank.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Armin gasped as the Female Titan slammed her foot right in front of him, causing the horse to cry out and knock Armin off of it. Armin tumbled on the ground as the hood of his Scouting Legion cloak covered his head. He slowly got on his knees, but widened his eyes as he felt the Female Titan kneel behind him.

There was a deadly silence as Armin began sweating. This was it. He was going to die. The titan was going to kill him and possibly eat him. It didn't eat Sys or Ness, but it killed them brutally. What was it going to do?

He became rather confused as the Female Titan lifted his hood, causing him to look up at her, completely anxious. She just looked at him with a rather sinister smile on her face. He became even more shocked as the Female Titan let go of his hood, before she stood up and ran off.

Armin just sat there in a complete daze. How come it didn't kill her?  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus screeched to a stop as he saw the right flank stopping before transforming into his bipedal mode.

"Is everyone alright?" Optimus asked as he kneeled down.

"Not everyone," the elite soldier answered, "Some got eaten as the Female Titan lead the titans near us."

"Female Titan?" Optimus questioned.

"Yes," the elite soldier answered, "We think it was an aberrant."

"Has it ever been recorded in your history for a titan to be able to accomplish that?" Optimus demanded.

"No," he answered.

Optimus slightly grimaced. That wasn't an aberrant. That was the spy Erwin was talking about.

"I am going to search for this Female Titan," Optimus informed, "If you encounter any of your comrades, tell them to not engage it."

"Rodger," the elite soldier said.

Optimus transformed into his alt mode before driving away from them, searching for the Female Titan. He turned his side-view mirror to see a yellow flare shot into the air. That must be it.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Jean! Avenge the suicidal bastard who rushed to his death!" Armin yelled, causing the Female Titan to stop her attack on Jean.

'Armin?' Jean questioned, 'The titan stopped?'

"That's the one! That's the one that killed him!" Armin blabbered, "He rushed to his death on the right flank! Avenge him!"

Jean rolled on the ground before landed next to the tree. 'The heck is going on? Did Armin hit his head and go insane? This isn't the time…'

Jean looked in confusion as he saw Reiner take off his hood and ride towards the Female Titan.

"It crushed my best friend! I saw it's body right under its foot!" Armin continued as Reiner jumped and hooked onto the nape of the neck. He flew towards the neck and almost made it; however, the Female Titan smirked as she saw Reiner.

Reiner gasped as the Female Titan grabbed him in her hand, causing Armin and Jean to look in shock. Reiner tried to escape from her grasp, but the Female Titan simply put her thumb over him. As she was about to crush him, Optimus let out a battle cry before elbowing the Female Titan from behind. This gave Reiner the opportunity to cut his way out of the Female Titan's hand.

"Optimus?!" Jean exclaimed.

Optimus managed to catch Reiner before skidding across the ground to grab Armin. Jean ran towards Optimus before he picked Jean up. The three gasped as Optimus transformed into his alt mode with the three in the front.

"The hell?!" Jean exclaimed.

Optimus changed the gear shift and drove forward, forcing the three back from the force. Reiner kept cursing under his breath while Jean held onto the seats for dear life. Armin looked at the side-view mirror as it adjusted to see the Female Titan slowly getting up and looking at her hand. Armin gasped as she slowly stood up and ran towards the center, rear.

Towards Eren…  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus slowed to a stop near an area of bushes and trees before opening his doors, enabling the three soldiers to get out. Armin jumped out just fine; however, Jean and Reiner were not.

Jean was trying so hard not to throw up from the motion and speed while Reiner collapsed onto the ground with relief.

"I apologize for causing you motion sickness," Optimus said through the radio.

"It's okay," Reiner said as he took in deep breaths, "I'd rather be sick than be crushed."

Optimus activated his holoform, causing Reiner to jump up in surprise as Optimus looked over at Armin and noticed his head injury.

"What happened to you?" Optimus asked.

"The Female Titan knocked me off my horse," Armin answered, "I'm fine though,"

"You still have an injury," Optimus retorted.

"I have some bandages," Reiner said as he stood up and pulled out some bandages before throwing them to Optimus. Optimus caught the roll before kneeling down behind Armin and wrapping the bandage around his head.

Reiner heard galloping before turning around to see his horse running towards him.

"Looks like my horse come back," Reiner remarked as his horse came up to him.

"I'm going to try and call for mine," Jean proclaimed as he began whistling.

"Hey, how's the 3D Gear?" Reiner asked Armin as he kneeled down.

"It's okay," Armin answered, "The clasp released as it should, so it's not broken."

"Glad to hear," Reiner said.

Optimus finished wrapping the bandage around Armin head before noticing a wound on Reiner's hand.

"You are injured as well," Optimus remarked.

Reiner looked at Optimus in confusion before looking down to see scratches and a large gash on his hand that was leaking blood.

"It's not much," Reiner shrugged off, "I'll manage,"

"I will not allow you to shrug something like this off," Optimus proclaimed as he walked over to him and kneeled down, "A simple cut can lead to a incurable virus,"

"I…guess," Reiner slightly trailed off as Optimus wrapped the bandage around his hand, "Hey, Optimus, how are you doing that?"

"It is called a holoform," Optimus explained as he continued wrapping the wound without looking at Reiner, "I can alter it to whatever I desire and use it to interact with your kind."

"I see," Reiner mused, "How do you know about human injuries?"

"Ms. Zoe told me a little about human injuries, and I learned a little from an old friend of mine," Optimus answered.

Reiner didn't say anything as Optimus finished wrapping the bandage around his wound. "Thanks, Optimus."

"You should be careful with that injury," Optimus advised, "Do not do anything that will cause new ones to appear."

Reiner nodded his head as Optimus stood up onto his feet. Reiner looked in confusion as he noticed Armin staring off into space, looking like he was thinking about something.

"Armin?" Reiner questioned.

Optimus turned around to see Armin staring at the ground, almost looking like he was pondering over something. He kneeled down and put a hand on his shoulder, causing Armin to snap out of his thought and look at him.

"Is there something wrong?" Optimus asked.

Armin shook his head. "I'm fine, Optimus,"

"Jean, has another horse come back?" Optimus asked.

Jean took his fingers out of his mouth before looking at Optimus and shaking his head. "We need another horse to move. Can you take two of us in your caravan?"

"I do not think it would be wise right now," Optimus answered causing all of them to look at Optimus in confusion.

"Hey why?" Reiner demanded as he stood up.

"I need to go after the Female Titan," Optimus declared, "The longer I wait here, the more time the Female Titan has of causing destruction."

Armin nodded his head in understanding before turning to Jean. "Jean, fire a smoke round as see if there's anyone nearby."

Jean nodded his head in understanding as he got his flare gun and attached the smoke round to it before firing it into the air.

"Let's hope someone sees that," Jean said as he looked at the smoke.

"Optimus-san," Armin began, causing Optimus to look at him, "I need to talk to you. I need you to tell Commander Erwin something alone."

"What do you wish for me to tell him?" Optimus asked intently.

"Armin, you can tell Erwin that yourself," Jean smiled as he saw something, "Someone is riding over here with two horses. It's Krista!"

"Is everyone alright?" Krista asked as she stopped in front of the three. She looked in surprise as she saw Optimus in his holoform.

"Who's that?" Krista asked.

"It's Optimus, don't worry," Armin reassured.

"Really?" Krista asked in surprise.

"I will explain the situation another time; I must take my leave of you," Optimus proclaimed before slightly bowing, "Thank you for helping these three."

"Your w-welcome," Krista said in shyness.

Krista widened her eyes as Optimus' holoform dispersed into sparks. The horses slightly jolted as Optimus' alt mode came to life and screeched its wheels across the ground before driving after the Female Titan.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------  
The Female Titan kept running as four soldiers were attempting to attack it. A soldier that was riding on his horse aimed his flare gun at her.

"Look over here!" he demanded, "You monster!"

The Female Titan looked at him, giving the soldier the opportunity to fire black smoke at her. She moved her head out of the way just in time to barely dodge the bullet.

"Now!" the soldier yelled.

A soldier that was on top of the windmill hooked onto her back while two more that was on their horses jumped off and hooked to her ankles.

"Curse you for causing so many death!" the soldier that aimed for her ankle yelled.

"We'll make you suffer a slow and painful death!" the soldier on her back declared.

The Female Titan; however, grabbed the wire on her back and jumped into the air, surprising them all. The Female Titan then smashed a soldier into the ground while she smashed another one into the building next to her. She held the third soldier by the wire as he looked at her in fear.

"L-Let me go!" he yelled.

The Female Titan was about to kill the soldier, but widened her eyes as she heard a rather strange yet familiar noise. She turned around to see Optimus transform into his bipedal mode and slice off her hand that was holding the soldier. Optimus then got the Female Titan into a double shoulder lock as the soldier looked up in shock.

"What the?"

"Leave the area now!" Optimus ordered, "And pass this message throughout the formation: do not engage the Female Titan!"

"Get on!" the soldier on the horse told the one on the ground. The soldier climbed onto the horse before they rode off through the formation.

Optimus then let go of the Female Titan as she turned and faced Optimus. She grimaced while Optimus kept a calm expression.

"I will only give you this warning once," Optimus proclaimed, "Stand down, and I will spare your life."

The Female Titan didn't say anything as she got into a simple boxing stance. Optimus didn't say anything as he activated his mouth guard. If this was her choice, then he had to fight.

The Female Titan and he charged at each other and held their fists back to throw a punch.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Captain Levi!" a soldier began as he came up to Levi's squad, "I have a message for you. An aberrant titan has penetrated our formation!"

Eren looked in shock. What? A titan's in the formation?!

"Also, the metal titan says to not engage the Female Titan!" the soldier added.

The squad looked at the soldier in shock while Levi raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Is that so?" Levi pondered, "Petra, pass the message on."

"Y-yes sir," Petra said before rising to the next row.

"Why would Optimus say not to engage?" Eld asked Levi.

"It's quite obvious," Levi stated, "Optimus is fighting the Female Titan."

"Huh?!" Eren exclaimed, "We have to help him!"

"Eren, Optimus made the decision to fight on his own," Levi explained, "He chose the fight, and it's his only."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Hey, what are we doing at this tourist spot?" Jean questioned as they were riding around the forest, "We're totally off from our destination and from the return point."

"I don't know," Armin answered, "but the order did come from Commander Erwin after all. He must have a plan."

"What kind of plan?" Jean asked, "Are they planning to hold a welcome ceremony for us new recruits at a tourist spot?"

"I don't think so," Armin answered.

"That was a joke," Jean clarified. "Anyway, that giant woman is following us, and Optimus is after it for some reason. Either way, we can't stay here. The only thing I can imagine is that we're going to do something else."  
"Everyone, halt!" an elite ordered.

Everyone stopped in front of a large set of trees before getting off their horses.

"All right, listen up, recruits," the soldier began, "We are now going to make a counterattack. Draw your blades and wait in the trees. If any titans enter the forest, stop them at all costs."

"U-um sir, what are you-"

"Shut up and follow order!" he demanded before going in the tree.

"Seriously? What's going on?" Jean demanded.

The recruits widened their eyes as they heard a loud noise and turned to see something blue fly into the sky.

"The hell was that?" Reiner demanded.

Armin looked at the sky for a moment before realizing what it was. Optimus just shot energon into the sky. He was fighting the Female Titan.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Optimus transformed his blaster back into his servo before punching the Female Titan, destroying part of her face. She glared at Optimus as her face quickly regenerated before throwing a punch at Optimus, which he quickly blocked with his arm. Optimus looked over at the Female Titan's hand, only to find that it was completely fine.

Optimus transformed his hand into a blade and attempted to slice the Female Titan's hand off, but she raised her hand and blocked the attack. Optimus widened his optics in shock to see an armor form on her arm, preventing anything form of damage.

'Diamond?' Optimus thought. That was the hardest substance on this planet. How was she even able to do that or achieve that kind of ability?

Optimus jumped back as he transformed his blade back into his servo. Blades weren't going to work and Optimus didn't want to kill her with his blasters. He had to use hand-to-hand combat.

Optimus got into a simple boxing stance while the Female Titan did the same, creating the diamond armor to protect her arms and legs. Optimus ended up throwing the first punch, which the Female Titan blocked with her arm. She then threw a punch at Optimus, but Optimus ducked at the last second before punching her in the gut. The Female Titan stumbled back before rolling on the ground. She coughed up some spit before standing up fully.

The Female Titan then ran towards Optimus and jumped into the air as she kicked Optimus. Optimus managed to block the foot at the last second, but widened his optics as she punched him in the side of the face, causing him to lose his balance.

Optimus gritted his dentas and threw the Female Titan off of him, causing her to land onto her feet and skid back to a stop, using her diamond fingers in the process.

Optimus glanced behind her to see the forest of giant trees. He needed to lure her there in order to trap her. He probably has to keep pushing her back.

Optimus snapped out of his thoughts as the Female Titan charged at him, trying to kick him in his stomach. Optimus dodged that before hooking her by the neck and throwing her closer to the forest. Optimus ran and gave an uppercut to the Female Titan, destroying part of her face and sending her flying into the air.

The Female Titan fell to the ground before slowly twitching. Optimus walked over to the regenerating body, but widened his optics as the Female Titan quickly got up and punched him in the face. Optimus stumbled back and tried to regain his composure while the Female Titan leaned on the edge of a tree from exhaustion.

The Female Titan looked over at Optimus as he got into a fighting stance while her face was fully healed. She knew. She knew that running into the metal titan would mean certain death. She didn't run away; she couldn't outrun him anyway. She was getting banged up left and right while the metal titan barely had a scratch. She knew that there was a big possibility of dying. He outmatched her in every way.

She smiled as her eyes gleamed with light. Yet she still felt so alive.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Captain Levi!" Eren called out.

"What?" Levi answered in irritation.

"Well, we're in the middle of the woods," Eren began, "If the center enters alone, we won't know if titans are coming. And Optimus is fighting some aberrant titan, but how will we protect ourselves from the other titans or get help?"

"Don't go on about the obvious," Levi answered, "We can't do any of that anymore. But look around you, those big-ass trees, it's the perfect environment for 3D gear. And use that tiny head of yours. If you don't want to die, think."

"But what about Optimus?" Eren asked, "Optimus is fighting the aberrant titan, shouldn't we help him?"

"No," Levi answered.

"Why?" Eren demanded, "Optimus is risking his life to help us! Shouldn't we help him out?!"

"Optimus willingly took on the challenge," Levi explained, "He made the decision to fight. We go back it won't help the situation. And besides, you could barely take Optimus on when in your titan form. What good would it do when you try and help him? You'll just get beaten up."

Eren gritted to his teeth as he scowled to himself. Sadly Levi was right. When Optimus was training him, he accidentally turned into a titan, but Optimus willingly continued the training. He wanted to see how strong he had become, but Eren was easily beaten. (1)

He looked over at his comrades and widened his eyes to see that they all had worried faces. Did they not know what was going on? Did Levi know what was going on?

Eren and the rest of the squad widened their eyes as they heard loud rumbling noises followed by a punching sound. They all looked up to see a black smoke round being fired into the air.

"A black smoke round?" Eren questioned.

"It's from directly behind us," Oluo realized.

"It must be the Female Titan," Eld said, "Jeez, what the hell is Optimus doing?"

"Draw your blades," Levi ordered as he pulled his out, "If we see it, it'll only be for a second."

Eren looked behind him as he heard nothing but silence. He hated how he knew that there was a threat, but that he couldn't see it. He heart was beating louder and louder as he heard something getting closer.

He widened his eyes as he heard Optimus let out a battle cry before tackling the Female Titan to the floor.

"Go!" Levi ordered as they continued going down the road.

"Optimus!" Eren cried.

The Female Titan widened her eyes as she saw Eren just up ahead as she tried to fight her way out of Optimus' grasp.

"Keep moving!" Optimus instructed. This gave the Female Titan the opportunity to change her elbow into diamond and elbow Optimus in the face. Optimus quickly recovered as the Female Titan got up and tried to run after Eren. Optimus ran after the Female Titan before tackling her once again, causing them to roll on the ground.

"Everyone, cover your ears," Levi instructed.

Levi then pulled out a flare gun before pulling the trigger, firing a black smoke round into the air.

Optimus quickly looked up to see the smoke round and realized what that meant, they were near the trap. He widened his optics as the Female Titan punched him in the face once more, causing Optimus to stumble off before quickly getting onto his feet. The Female Titan tried to punch Optimus, but Optimus ducked before transforming his servo into a blaster. The Female Titan widened her eyes as Optimus fired at her stomach, causing her to crash into one of the trees and collapse on the ground.

Optimus watched as her stomach didn't evaporate. Instead, the diamond began falling off of the area he shot the Female Titan. The diamond was probably able to protect the energon blast, but it probably required too much energy to recreate that diamond armor.

The Female Titan looked at Optimus with worry and fear. She was so screwed. That shot nearly killed her! She only got lucky because of her armor, but she wasn't sure if it would protect her again. She looked down the road to where Eren was. She had to get to Eren. She was too close now to lose, and she wasn't going to let the metal titan stand in her way.

The Female Titan gritted her teeth before bolting down the road, causing Optimus to look in shock before running after her. The Female Titan looked behind her before accelerating down the road.

Optimus gritted his dentas. She was going too fast. His bipedal mode would be able to catch up, but his alt mode would.

Optimus transformed into his alt mode before driving towards the Female Titan. He turned himself to the side and tripped the Female Titan. She fell to the ground as Optimus continued driving forward. The Female Titan gritted her teeth before running after Optimus. She couldn't let the metal titan get in the way.

As the Female Titan took another step, she widened her eyes as she saw all these devices that looked like cannons surrounding her. She looked over to see Commander Erwin on top of a tree, raising his blade and yelling,

"Fire!"

Optimus transformed and rolled out of the way as the soldiers fired the hooks at the Female Titan while she protected her neck. Optimus stood up as they continued firing the hooks. The firing ceased as the Female Titan became completely immobile.

"Optimus!" Hanji called out with a smile as she walked over to him on a tree, "Great job luring the Female Titan!"

"Do not thank me just yet," Optimus said, "The task is still not over. We still need to find out who is titan shifter is."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"That was it, right?" Eren asked Petra, "But new recruits like me aside, shouldn't they have told the Survey Corp veteran like you?"

"Shut it!" Oluo ordered.

"Are you saying that the Commander and the Captain don't trust us?" Petra demanded.

"N-no," Eren answered, "but from the looks of it, it really seems like it."

"Petra, yank his teeth out!" Oluo yelled as he pointed his blade at Eren, "Swap his front teeth with his molars!"

"No, it's just as Eren said," Eld agreed, "I think the Commander had a reason to keep this from us."

"Then why?" Gunther asked.

"The one reason to not trust your comrades," Eld began, "A transforming human, or a spy, is working through our ranks."

"Huh?" Eren exclaimed.

"The only ones that he could trust, were the ones who were around for longer than five more years." Eld continued.

"I see," Gunther mused.

"So that what it is," Oluo said, "Get that Eren?"

Eren nodded his head.

"But I found something else odd," Eld added.

"Odd?" Petra questioned.

"Yeah," Eld answered, "I think that Optimus knew too."

Everyone looked at Eld like he was insane.

"Optimus?!" Oluo exclaimed, "Levi barely trusts him! How would he even be on this plan? And Optimus is considered just as big of a threat as Eren!"

"Optimus was placed into the back of the formation from what I've seen," Eld explained, "And at the same time when Optimus was fighting the Female Titan, I saw him go towards the trap before the Female Titan got captured. And besides, Erwin actually seems like he trusts Optimus."

"Well if Erwin trusts Optimus, then how did he get in on the plan? Last time I check, I don't think Optimus was asked the question," Oluo recalled.

Petra widened her eyes. "Because I told him,"

"Petra?" Gunther questioned.

"Ma'am, what do you mean?"Eren asked.

"I told Optimus what happened with the test titans and I told him the question Erwin was asking," Petra explained, "That's how he knew. That's how Optimus found out."

Eren looked down as he thought it over. Why wouldn't Optimus tell him?  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"If we knew that there was a titan within our ranks, things could've turned out differently," Jean said.

Armin remained quiet for a moment. "No he wasn't mistaken,"

"What do you mean?" Jean demanded, "If it wasn't for Optimus, we all could've been dead."

"Jean, saying something could've happened differently only happens after everything's been done," Armin explained, "No one's able to predict the end result. But there's a time when someone will have to make a decision. Erwin was willingly to choose his comrades over the people living in the wall. If there's one thing I know it's this: If someone wants to bring about change, he has to be willing to abandon everything. And that doesn't just apply here, it applies with Optimus too.

"Optimus was the leader of an entire army back on Cybertron, and he was forced to fight the person he considered brother. Optimus made the decision too: it was either his own personal feelings, or the survival of his people and planet. Even _he_ was willing to throw away his own sanity to try and win the war,"

Jean slightly grimaced as he knew who Armin was talking about.

"People who aren't able to abandon anything, are unable to change anything," Armin declared, "In order to become a monster, you must be willing to throw away your humanity."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Fire!" Erwin ordered.

The soldiers fired the remains of the hooks onto the Female Titan as Hanji began chuckling.

"How does is feel?" Hanji smirked, "You can't even scratch it if you get an itch. Moving a muscle is out of the question, probably forever. The more you try to move and heal your injuries, the less you can move."

"We cannot stay out here forever Ms. Zoe," Optimus proclaimed as he looked at the Female Titan and crossed his arms, "We need to find out who is in the titan."

"Which I don't understand," Hanji began, "Why is it taking them so long?"

Mike and Levi attacked from behind, trying to cut off the hands of the Female Titan, but she crystallized her hands the moment the blades made contact, causing them to shatter.

"Armor?" Hanji questioned.

"She is somehow able to create a diamond armor to protect certain parts of her body. It can protect against my blades and was able to block one of my energon blasts," Optimus explained.

"Eh? Really?" Hanji asked in surprise, "Wait, what's diamond?"

"Diamond is the hardest substance on this planet made entirely out of the element carbon," Optimus answered.

"Oh," Hanji smiled, "When we get back to the wall, remind me to write that down."

Optimus didn't say anything as he noticed the Female Titan glaring at him. He could've sworn he's seen that face before. Maybe he saw it at the ceremony, those eyes did resemble the one that gleamed with interest. And that face, he must've seen it somewhere in Trost. No. What bothered him the most, was that the Female Titan had the same fighting styles as he did.

The reason it bothered him so much is because this world is very primitive in fighting, yet this Female Titan resembled boxing stances. How did she get her hands on those form?

Unless…

"Hey, won't you come out already?" a voice asked.

Optimus looked up to see Levi on top of the Female Titan's head.

"We don't have all day you know," Levi continued, "Say what do you think will become of you?"

Optimus slightly widened his optics as he grew tense. What was Levi doing?

"Do you think you'll be able to escape this predicament?" Levi asked, "I'd wish you considered the trouble you're causing us, but I'm enjoying this very much."

"Levi, that is enough," Optimus warned. If he provoked her too much or scared her too much, she might pull some kind of trump card.

"Oh, right, there's something I want to ask," Levi continued, ignoring Optimus' warning, "Is I all right if I severe your hands and feet? They'll grow back, won't they? I'm talking about your real body. It'll be a problem after all if you died."

Optimus cursed under his breath. That was the final one.

The Female Titan opened her mouth, causing Levi to look in confusion. The Female Titan let out a bloody cry, causing the entire Survey Corps and Optimus to cover their ears. It caused wind to rise up and her cries were heard throughout the forest. The Female Titan stopped screaming as there was a deafening silence throughout the forest.

"Was that its death roars?" a soldier asked.

Optimus grimaced as he activated his blasters, shocking the people surrounding him. That was a death roar yes, but he's seen this form of death many times on Cybertron. Many Decepticons who wouldn't give up information to the enemy, they would throw away their own life to keep the information safe.

She was self-destructing.

'What's Optimus doing?' Erwin thought as Mike came onto the tree.

"Erwin, it smell," Mike informed.

"From what direction?" Erwin asked.

"From everywhere," Mike answered.

"Hurry the explosives!" Erwin ordered.

"Erwin, they'll be coming from the east." Mike informed.

Optimus heard the information and aimed his blasters towards the east side. He saw the titans and immediately began firing, shooting off the heads of the titans. A small titan came in from the west side and began biting the Female Titan's leg.

'So they're after the Female Titan,' Erwin realized.

"The titans are coming in from everywhere!" a soldier shouted.

Optimus looked around to see multiple titans heading towards the Female Titan. This was bad.

"Defend the Female Titan! Even if it costs you your lives!" Erwin ordered.

Optimus switched his blasters into blades before attacking along with the Survey Corps. They continued attacking and killing the titans that devoured the Female Titan, but it was no use. More and more titans continued to devour the Female Titan was nothing more than limbs.

"Retreat!" Erwin ordered.

Everyone stepped back as they watched the Female Titan be devoured. Optimus widened his optics at the horror. That was it? All that work was for nothing?

"Fall back into formation!" Erwin instructed, "Return to Kanares!"

'No,' Optimus thought. This was it. It was over. They didn't have any evidence to the human government that Eren was an ally, or that they had any way of discovering the secrets of the Titans. That meant that Eren would be handed over to the Military Police.

Erwin continued riding down the road with Hanji, a couple of soldiers, and Optimus. They were planning to make their way out of the forest.

"Why did you order Levi to go and resupply?" Hanji asked.

"The Female Titan was eaten," Erwin began, "But did you see the person inside get eaten? I didn't."

"You can't mean-"

"Yes," Erwin cut off, "If your original hypothesis was correct, they can move to a certain degree when regaining human form. If they prepared 3D Maneuver Gear in advance, the person inside the Female Titan is wearing our uniform right now."

"Commander Erwin, I need to speak with you," Optimus proclaimed as he drove up next to Erwin.

"Optimus, what's up?" Hanji asked.

"I have a theory of who the Female Titan may be," Optimus proclaimed, causing Erwin and Hanji to widen their eyes in shock.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eren gasped as he looked at the sight in front of him. The Female Titan was on the ground with a calm expression, while the bodies of Levi's former squad was before him.

He made the wrong choice. He made the wrong choice and now everyone was dead. And there was nothing he could do about it.

'I'll….'

"I will…KILL IT!" Eren yelled as he bit his hand, causing the lightning to surround him.

The Female Titan widened her eye as she saw Eren's titan form appear. Eren let out a mighty roar as he landed on the ground and skidded towards the Female Titan.

Optimus widened his optics as he heard the roar from a distance. Without saying anything, Optimus turned around and drove towards the source of the roar.

"Optimus, wait!" Hanji called out.

Eren continued roaring as he charged at the Female Titan. He was going to tear her apart.

**Author's Note:**

> None of these characters belongs to me. Send comments and kudos. And melishade and melishade4ever are the same person in case anyone thinks I'm copying my own work.


End file.
